


And We Are Giants

by CapsicleRogers



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim, M/M, Pacific Rim AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-20
Updated: 2013-11-20
Packaged: 2018-01-01 07:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 68,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1041984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CapsicleRogers/pseuds/CapsicleRogers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Captain Steve Rogers wakes from an injury-induced coma, a lot has changed in the battle against the Kaiju. There are new Jaegers with new pilots, new advances in the study of the beasts, even new rules in the Shatterdome. It’s starting to seem like they’re finally ready to defeat the monsters once and for all, but first Steve must learn to get along with his new team of pilots. Especially the troublesome Tony Stark, who’s proving to be harder to deal with than the Kaiju problem itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [And We Are Giants (Artworks)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051978) by [hayatecrawford](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayatecrawford/pseuds/hayatecrawford). 



> Part of the 2013 Cap Iron Man Big Bang, with art from the amazingly talented hayatecrawford which everybody needs to see because it's all really amazing work!
> 
> A huge thanks to my beautiful betas, [HumanTrampoline](http://archiveofourown.org/users/HumanTrampoline/profile), [wordsplat](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordsplat/profile), and [craftingcaitlin](http://craftingcaitlin.tumblr.com/).

"Kaiju on your three."

"Roger that."

They didn't have to share a look, but it was almost impossible for Steve Rogers to avoid the casual smirk he sent Bucky Barnes, his long time companion and drift partner. They were currently locked into their Jaeger, the Howling Commando, somewhere out in the Pacific beyond any place Steve might recognize. The latest in Kaiju attacks - this one had been affectionately named 'Baby' after it's official name and categorization had shown up (Saisho, and a Cat-2 if nothing else came up in their analysis) - even had Steve feeling comfortable. All of the latest Kaiju had easily been Category 3, moving up in size and strength and starting to push towards Category 4, not that the Jaeger teams weren't ready for them. Baby, it seemed, was half the size of its most recent predecessors and lacking any identifiable strength or skill. It had originally made the entire team uneasy but by this point enough distance analysis had been run that it was beginning to seem like nothing more than an escaped Cat-2, maybe taking advantage of all of the fallen Kaiju before it.

Predictably, the comparably tiny Kaiju lept from the water almost as soon as both Bucky and Steve were able to catch sight of its motion. Baby was almost half the size of the Kaiju the Howling Commando had last fought - a beast of a monster satirically named Hammerhead with an inclination towards headbutting - and the Howling Commando was barely pushed back as it caught the smaller Kaiju within its grasp.

"It's been a while since the last Cat-2," Bucky commented absently as the Howling Commando sent Baby sprawling into the water in front of them.

"I would rather it have been longer," Steve replied easily, barely a grunt from him as they both moved to start walking. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate what seemed to be a break in their usual baddies, it was just that any Kaiju still represented a threat to the Pacific coastal towns no matter the category. As easy a job as it seemed, it was still up to Steve and Bucky to take down Baby before it could do any real harm.

"Still," Bucky countered easily, and the two took a small break in order to properly swing the Kaiju by its tail, "You gotta admit this is kind of what we signed up for. Protecting the world and having a good time doing it."

"Chatter, boys." Agent Peggy Carter's voice broke in through the headsets and even Bucky had the decency to look admonished. Agent Carter was one of the most well-respected agents within the San Francisco Shatterdome, and had been a lot of the reason Steve and Bucky had been given the chance to actually pilot a Jaeger. She was chief of operations for the Howling Commando and its team, an almost ragtag group of men gathered from across the Shatterdomes in order to form the most efficient Jaeger team in existence. Agent Carter's extensive team of pilots and engineers boasted a 100% success rate in simulations even before she'd invited Steve and Bucky to join them, and both boys knew the honor it had been to have been selected for the team. That had been eight battles (and eight successful Kaiju kills) ago for the Howling Commando, after which there was no denying the credibility or skill of any member of the team.

"Let's get this over with then, shall we?" Bucky asked, and he and Steve hitched their operations in preparation for real battle. It was followed by a round of cheers from LOCCENT behind Agent Carter's voice, because not even an easy battle could stop the Commando team from proper celebration. Steve allowed himself a heavy laugh that Bucky echoed easily, and they turned to the Kaiju that had been hissing at them from its safe distance.

The Howling Commando approached quickly, hardly giving Baby a chance to prepare before the Jaeger was on top of it, grasping at the Kaiju with one hand and bringing the other down to deliver a number of blows. Baby let out a round of cries as Bucky's fist connected with it, pausing only when interrupted by the robot's fist connecting with its jaw. Steve's fist continued to hold on tightly to the small but squirming Kaiju, resolutely ignoring the screeching of metal as small claws scratched desperately at the hull and chest and arms of the Jaeger.

It hardly felt like a minute before Baby stopped moving, and Bucky stilled his fist.

"Is it dead?" he asked, although they both knew the likelihood of that was slim. Even the earliest Kaiju had not been so easily defeated, and it never hurt to double check anyway.

"Pulse Cannon," both men said in unison after just a moment's hesitation, because it had become every Jaeger's fallback to ensuring the death of the Kaiju in question. Plus the heat from the blast tended to burn away much of the debris from the carasses, saving a bit of hassle in the clean up, especially involving Kaiju Blue.

The whir of the pulse cannon preparing itself was warm and familiar, and both Steve and Bucky allowed themselves to bask in the feeling as it heated and then fired a handful of shots at the downed Kaiju. Baby's unmoving body bounced with the impact of the shots, and began to glow red where the canon successfully broke its tough skin. Steve resisted holding up his hand for a high five with Bucky simply because it hardly seemed like a difficult effort on either of their parts, but he couldn't deny there was something definitely satisfying about the floating remnants of any sort of Kaiju corpse.

"Saisho is down," Steve announced over the communicators as both he and Bucky prepared their Jaeger for pickup. Their job with this particular battle was now finished and they could return to the basketball game that had been interrupted with the alarm. Steve did offer Bucky one more smirk as they were congratulated by Agent Carter and her surrounding team, and Bucky readily returned it.

"See, now that wasn't so bad," Bucky commented as the Jaeger slowly shut its offensive systems down, "There's even time to clean up when we get back before celebrating this evening."

Steve let out a chuckle, because Bucky always made sure there was time for celebration, and rarely let himself go without at least an hour of preparation in front of the mirror. Steve preferred to use the time to wind down, but there hadn't been a party yet that Bucky had let him skip. Something about how much of a looker Steve had become after their Ranger training and how it was wasted if they didn't take advantage of their celebrity status. Steve was personally just as happy not letting the fame get to his head, but he couldn't lie that he enjoyed the time spent with his team... and with Peggy.

Which was of course the wrong thing to think about, because suddenly Bucky was smirking at him knowingly. "Maybe tonight's the night," he suggested out loud, and Steve shook his head in response. Bucky pushed on. "But I'm serious. Wait out the party a little bit, let everybody get a little wasted - "

"You're the only one that ever gets wasted, Buck," Steve interrupted, "And besides, she's not like that. I wouldn't want to just - "

"Pick-up in ten minutes," Dum-Dum Dugan, one of Steve and Bucky's chief engineers and a close friend, interrupted over the communication systems, causing Bucky to outright laugh and Steve to flush heavily. Of course Bucky's intention was to make him accidentally reveal his long time crush on Peggy over the intercom where she was going to hear him. He glared as Bucky's laughter faded and the other man held up his hands in surrender.

"Roger that," Steve told Dugan, and Bucky erupted into another fit of laughter. Steve merely rolled his eyes at him, choosing instead to continue with the Howling Commando's shutdown sequence.

It was as he was switching the main visuals that something finally caught Steve's eye, and he immediately sobered. There was still movement within the Kaiju floating in front of them, and not in such a way that the water could be forcing it. Something was moving _inside_ the beast's body, almost slithering just beneath the skin.

"Bucky," Steve said, but already their connection had caught the other man's attention and he was turning in disbelief to look at what Steve was watching.

"What the hell - " Bucky uttered just as those on the other side of the communications line did the same, but the question was answered in the same breath.

It happened quickly, almost instantaneously even as it played in slow motion before Steve's eyes. Saisho's body burst, spilling guts and Kaiju Blue into the surrounding water. But something else was emerging, nearly fifty tiny creatures that looked like the parasites in their movement but more closely resembled the Kaiju in their appearance. These were identical to each other, all covered in the slimy Kaiju Blue and slippery as though they were giant salamanders. Steve guessed that each one - because they were all the same size - might be the width of a large sedan but easily the length of a few city buses from their head to the tip of their tails. They slithered over the corpse of their fallen carrier, slipping effortlessly into the water and disappearing.

"Baby's got babies," Bucky commented, and Steve couldn't help but think that it should be funny, but wasn't. There was something wrong, something horrible about what was happening before them that Steve just couldn't shake. He wanted to find comfort in Bucky's words, in his uneasy attempts to humor them both, but a terrible feeling had overcome him so suddenly and so strongly that he found he very nearly couldn't move. Instinctually, Steve knew he should be thinking more positively, analyzing the situation and running over strategies with Bucky to take them down, but he couldn't seem to focus through the anxiety that gripped him and he remained silent, both in the drift and out.

"Where the hell are they going?" Bucky asked, because he had noticed the same thing as Steve almost immediately: the monsters became practically invisible as soon as they submerged themselves and it looked as though they all intended to disappear. Steve and Bucky took a step back to try to find their swimming patterns in the water, to try to see if they could find at least one of the monsters, but there was hardly a ripple beyond their own lurching movements.

"Are you getting this?" Steve called through the communicators, hoping that the creatures might be visible on one of the scanners back with the others. Slowly, he and Bucky began to put their own systems back online, reactivating the parts they had since shut down and once again preparing the Howling Commando for battle.

"Affirmative," Colonel Phillips's voice rang out, "Still working on figuring it out."

"The signature is all over the place," Peggy cut in, and Steve and Bucky shared a look. They could have guessed that based on the numbers still slowly slinking out of the floating corpse, what they needed was more information.

"Any idea what their doing?" Steve asked again, because they still had not seen any emerge from the water. The Howling Commando picked up another foot, and both Steve and Bucky peered carefully into the dark water below.

"They're just scattered," Peggy said, "And none of them seem to be following any sort of pattern or strategy. We're still looking but until then assume hostile and start - wait."

"We've been waiting, Pegs," Bucky replied, but Peggy hushed him quickly.

"They're moving now, forming together. Check your perimeter, Steve, they seem to be converging around you."

Bucky huffed as Steve confirmed. He looked to Steve to speak, but never managed to do so, and Steve looked to the movement that had startled his copilot. Peggy had been correct, there was now a swirling mass gathering and rippling around their feet. Almost instinctually, Steve and Bucky lifted their arms as one and aimed their fists at the swirling mass, at any random point that was the growing whirlpool beneath them. Both men braced themselves, waiting for the moment when the creatures would finally reveal what they were doing.

When they did emerge, it was as if the ocean was rising to greet them. Despite bracing themselves, Steve and Bucky were both caught unprepared for the assault they were unexpectedly faced with, and nearly toppled the Jaeger as they sought to right it after the blunt force of the Kaiju. It was more difficult than usual, and both Steve and Bucky grunted hard with the effort of pulling their bodies back upright under the weight of however many tiny Kaiju had successfully scaled the Jaeger.

"Get them off of here!" Steve shouted over his and Bucky's efforts, though his copilot needed no coaxing for the task. Already they were seeing the tiny lizard-like creatures reaching the arms of the Howling Commando, and they ripped one off as it crawled dangerously close to the Jaeger's core.

It felt oddly human, like something out of a horror movie, to be suddenly scraping Kaiju off of the Howling Commando as though they were bugs on a child's shorts. Steve distantly wished it could be so innocent, but didn't have time to truly mourn the thought before the Kaiju attack transformed into something more serious.

While they had been climbing, the monsters had done little in the way of damage to the Jaeger's body or systems. Almost as one, the Kaiju changed their movements and began to claw at the Howling Commando's exoskeleton as though they intended to rip it apart. It became clear to Steve that this was likely their intended goal, and the look he shared with Bucky implied that the other man had reached the same conclusion, even without their neural link.

Bucky let out a curse as the cockpit erupted into a shower of sparks, only narrowly missing their Conn Pod and platforms. "We've gotta shut them down fast," he said, even though neither of them had ceased tearing at the creatures while they tried to figure out what to do. It seemed little was helping, since for every one they successfully removed, it seemed two more took its place. But Steve knew that wasn't the case; they had seen all of the smaller Kaiju emerge from Saisho, so there had to be an end.

"Don't stop," Steve added unnecessarily, but it felt good to be talking and he didn't know what he might do if they both stopped fighting. The communications tower had long since stopped relaying information to the Jaeger, and if it weren't for the chatter and the commanding tones of Peggy in the background, Steve would have thought one of the Kaiju had taken out their link. It wasn't so unlikely a chance at this point, as systems were beginning to flash that they were going offline and all of Steve's sensors were beginning to burn with the pain of an abrupt disconnect.

"My leg's gone," Bucky said hastily, but Steve had already felt the disconnect from Bucky’s side of the Howling Commando. The circuitry had either been cut or fried, and Bucky was struggling to hold on to his precarious balance. More alarmingly, their systems scans were no longer reading any signals from anything below the hip on Bucky's side of the machine, and were fast losing details on the others as well. Steve was just thankful they were still standing despite the disconnect. It meant that they'd only destroyed the circuitry and perhaps minor structural pieces, but that didn't mean it would stay that way.

"They're going to rip us completely to shreds if we don't stop them now," Steve replied. He racked his mind for a plan to eliminate monsters faster, better, more effectively, but nothing would come to mind. Their plasma cannons had been mostly used (wasted) on Saisho's body and took time to prepare, anyway. And it wasn't like they would do much good when the creatures were attached to the Jaeger. Steve considered the possibility of finding a weapon with which to beat them away, but again the issues of removing the creatures from the Jaeger without harming it seemed to be the problem.

“We need a way to get them all off at once, or close to it,” Bucky interrupted, because that was the issue Steve was struggling with the most. Steve agreed through their link, but neither pilot could make any decent suggestion to do so. They gave it the briefest thought before Steve was struck with the warmth of an idea. Thoughts coursed through the drift, a plan from Bucky that Steve found himself both liking and hating.

"If we can use ol' HC's power source, we could probably fry them all," Bucky said aloud, and Steve thought about how they could go about doing that. It was a solid idea if they could make it work, but the Howling Commando wasn't equipped with an outer source of electricity. If they were going to access that kind of power, they would have to do so from the inside, and Steve wasn't sure how to go about transferring that.

Bucky gave him a look and tugged on one of their cabled extensors and everything connected beyond with a disappointed scowl. Steve stared for a moment before shaking his head, because Bucky's full plan was suddenly clear.

"No, Buck," Steve insisted, "That's too dangerous, there are too many things that could go wrong with that idea." Namely, Steve wasn't sure how to even get _those_ cables outside the Jaeger without one of them taking them out themselves, and that meant shutting down the neural link in the middle of the fight. Bucky nodded, because that was _exactly_ what he intended to do, and he didn't wait for a response from Steve before he began the manual overrides to do so. "There has to be another way," Steve continued, desperate to change his friend and teammate's mind. "It's way too dangerous to risk even opening the pod, much less hooking up live electrical wires."

"It's the only plan we got, Steve," Bucky replied, just as they were jolted forward. The structural integrity of the Howling Commando had been compromised, it seemed, and the Jaeger lurched dangerously again before Steve heard the communications shut off in his ear as well. "If we don't move fast, we aren't even going to have the power to do this," Bucky added, and Steve couldn't help but reluctantly agree with him. All of their systems were beginning to go dark, and despite his hesitance Steve knew they wouldn't have access to the power grid of the Jaeger for long.

"Let me help, then," Steve finally conceded, removing his helmet as their neural link interface finally shut down and they were both free from the drift and from control of the Jaeger. Both Steve and Bucky stepped off their command platforms, struggling to balance as the hull shook and tilted dangerously. Bucky was the first to reach the access ladder that would allow them outside, and he climbed it halfway before turning back to Steve.

"Get those extensors disconnected," Bucky shouted over the noise of the Kaiju ripping through the metal of the Jaeger. Steve nodded and began disconnected the extensors from the nearest platform, letting loose the cables he didn't need and carefully gathering them as they sparked with the Jaeger's electricity. He handed the gathered ends to Bucky, who accepted them into a loose grip and pulled as he climbed the rest of the way up the ladder. The emergency hatch squealed and clanged as it was thrown open, and Bucky disappeared quickly through the opening. Steve moved to follow, but there were cables in the way and his progress was slowed. He halted as Bucky's face appeared in the hatch once more, looking down at Steve with a face he recognized all too well.

"Don't move off the command platform," Bucky demanded, and Steve shook his head to protest but Bucky cut him off again. "It's the only place we know is protected from the charge. I'll be back down there as soon as I can get these secure. You gotta trust me, Steve."

"Bucky!" Steve shouted, though he knew it wouldn't do any good. The other man hadn't left any room for argument as he disappeared beyond the hatch again,  and Steve was hesitant to go against Bucky's wishes. He'd had a point, after all. The interior of the Jaeger had been designed to withstand outside forces, including water and electricity, but with the hatch open there was no telling how protected the Conn Pod would be. The command platform was the only space that had been sealed a second time, surrounded with a rubber that not only allowed for the necessary movement but also protected the pilots from extenuating circumstances within the hull itself. If there were any Kaiju surviving after the initial shock, they needed to ensure that somebody was available to handle that. Steve trusted Bucky, but there was no quelling the fear that was growing inside of him. He listened silently for anything that might give away Bucky's status, but the screeching of metal being torn was the only thing he could hear from within the hull.

Steve took a deep breath as he realized he had been holding it, and looked up to the hatch where Bucky had disappeared. There were still no other sounds, but the cables were flexing and stretching, so Steve knew Bucky was still working.

"Activate it!" Steve heard suddenly, even before he heard the hard clunking of Bucky along the edge of the hatch. The cables were swinging violently now, and just beyond them Bucky appeared, having been thrown into the edge of the hatch and just barely catching it. He was almost suspended from the entrance, having landed within the tangle of cables he had just pulled through, and was trying to quickly disentangle himself and catch the rungs of the ladder. The nearby ear-splitting shriek of one of the smaller Kaiju told Steve why Bucky was moving so quickly and had landed so terribly in the doorway. It took him only a moment's hesitation to fling himself back onto his own command platform and into the boot holsters, and to begin flipping the switches that normally activated the neural link. Steve didn't bother putting his own helmet back on, watching as Bucky struggled to get himself untangled from the cables leading outside.

"Faster, Steve!" Bucky shouted, cancelling Steve's own debate on whether he should be continuing the charge or reaching out to help his friend. He reluctantly looked away so that he could rapidly complete the startup process, but hesitated again when he heard Bucky curse.

"Dammit, Steve, we've got to get it up _now_!" Bucky shouted, even though he was still dangling by his own suit, wrapped in wires. Steve spared him one last hesitant glance as he reached for the last of the controls, but that was when the door to the hatch darkened and both Bucky and Steve let out a gasp of surprise.

The Kaiju that Bucky had been running from had finally found its way to the nook that hid the hatch, and was looking in at Bucky with glowing eyes easily the size of Bucky's head. The mouth, however, was the most alarming part, and Bucky gave one last attempt to free himself before the Kaiju was surging forward, seizing him by whatever it could get its jaws on and pulling.

"Bucky!" Steve shouted again, this time with a crack in his voice as Bucky cried out and was torn from the cable in one easy pull. The Kaiju had taken him by the arm, and was ripping him back through the hatch while Bucky's blood splattered the hatch door. Bucky cried out as his drive suit was breached by teeth as large as fists and everything in the Kaiju's maw was ripped to shreds. Steve lurched to help but he was still connected to the command platform, and the high whine of the Howling Commando's systems coming online was the only warning before the crack of electricity sparked outside.

It was only a moment, barely even seconds as Steve watched Bucky disappear out the hatch as the sky outside lit up with the sudden burst of electricity, but it felt like years, like ages. Steve was vaguely aware of the prick of electricity that shot through the control panels of the Jaeger, and only vaguely aware of the lingering, almost ghost-like pain that shot down his arm and through his body as he watched Bucky disappear for good. It was too dangerous to try to rescue him now, if Bucky survived the shock at all.

Steve became acutely aware of the moment his entire body went numb, the tingle of a distant force fading almost instantaneously and leaving him feeling empty. Bucky was gone, he realized somewhere in the back of his mind, but he could not bring himself to consciously think it or say it aloud. He had a job to do, one that he would now have to do alone, and he let out a sob if only to ground himself back into reality.

The Jaeger gave one last lurch as its systems came online as best as they could, and Steve let his body sink into the slouch as he replaced his helmet. Systems slowly came back online and began checking for overall damage, for lingering Kaiju, for anything out of the ordinary and Steve crumpled as the alarms for a missing pilot began to beep - to blare in Steve's ears. He ignored the alarms, because he still had a job to do and the numbness of his own limbs was more pain to him that the screeching warning of the computers.

"Conn pod connect," Steve almost whispered, barely strong enough to force any noise out of himself. There was a moment of silence where Steve thought the communications might be permanently out, where he thought he might be stuck in this dead Jaeger surrounded by dead Kaiju and his lost partner before they came to collect his own body, but then there was a burst of static and a sudden pouring of noise.

"Steve?" Peggy's voice called, fear and concern causing her normally calm tones to quiver even through the comms. "Steve, what happened? We lost communications and then we lost visual and we're only now getting everything back online."

"Saisho was harboring smaller Kaiju," Steve forced out, "And they ambushed the Commando. We were outnumbered - " A burst of pain not unlike a migraine unleashed in Steve's head and he winced, but did his best to ignore it. The outside readings from the sensors that still worked were beginning to come through, and Steve checked the scanners for signs of surviving Kaiju According to the computers, there were no remaining living organisms outside.

Steve had to suppress another wince at that. "Had to shut down systems to redirect power. Managed to successfully destroy them," he finished, and a small whoop sounded behind Peggy.

"Steve," Peggy said, and her voice had grown warmer with relief. But they weren't finished yet, there was still information to gather and pass along.

"Need to collect the data," Steve forced out, because the pain was getting stronger, "Bucky - "

"Bucky's lifesigns aren't showing on the control panel," Dum Dum cut in. "Was that one of the lost systems, or - "

"Bucky's gone," Steve interrupted, because of course there were no lifesigns. There wouldn't be any, only this numbness and growing emptiness. Steve let out a choked sob that he just couldn't swallow and forced himself to continue, "We had to get them all together, and he... he couldn't get back in time."

"How are you piloting the Commando?" Dum Dum asked this time, after a long moment of silence in which Steve tried to control his heaving. Everything around him was getting darker, heavier, but there were things he still needed to do. With a grunt of effort, Steve twisted the last of the controls back into place and the conn pod lit up.

"Be careful of the rogue wires outside the conn pod, they're live," Steve offered, ignoring the increasing shouts of concern through his helmet's headset. With a grunting effort, he pulled his body back into its upright position, and felt the hull balance out as the Howling Commando also stood straight. He then made an extra effort to save and transfer the data the Commando was finally able to gather - video, audio, all the sensory readings - for collection and tried to ignore the drops of blood that were starting to spatter on the front of his helmet. "Otherwise Howling Commando is ready for evac," he gritted, even though there hardly seemed anything worth picking up at this point. Steve's body was beginning to feel heavier itself, and the numbness had begun to settle on his mind. At least, he thought as he drifted out of consciousness to the concerned cries of Peggy and his team, he wouldn't have to think about Bucky and emptiness he felt.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Steve Rogers was consciously aware of was that wherever he was looked very much like his quarters back at the base. Which was strange, considering the last memory Steve had was righting the Howling Commando for extraction somewhere along the coastline and hoping the Jaeger had saved enough of the information for his team to find him. How they'd managed to get _here_ -

No, not they.

 _Bucky_ , Steve thought, the sudden anguish of the ghosting pain and numbness running through him as though it were happening again. Steve let out a choked sob and took in as much air as he could, but it wasn't close to enough. Steve sucked in again, still struggling as the images came flooding back to him. The other thing Steve last remembered was the look on Bucky's face as he was pulled from the conn pod.

The fading of his body as he disappeared through the hatch and into the open air.

The red of his blood as it seeped through the bite marks in his uniform and tainted the hull, the armor, the wires around him.

Steve sat up, ignoring the circumstances of his surroundings in a desperate effort to gain control of himself and his emotions. The sudden pain of strained and screaming muscles was a welcome relief, grounding Steve more firmly to the present. He took a deep breath and focused instead on the movement of unused joints and limbs. It was easier, now that he was moving, to think about the muscles that needed to be worked and moved, and to try to analyze the room around him. He was definitely not in his own quarters, although the concrete floor and walls and barren hatch door hardly allowed for much individuality in the first place. But where Steve had drawings and photos and news articles taped or nailed to the wall, these were empty. The layout was slightly different too, with the door in the opposite corner and the furniture arranged unfamiliarly. Steve had only been to one or two other Shatterdomes in his lifetime, but there was enough difference within them to know that he was still in Los Angeles. Even without thinking about Bucky, the overwhelming sense of _belonging_ screamed at him in this place, and he was only too grateful that this was the case.

It was something to help him start moving, anyway. Bucky had been lost, but had not been the first Ranger to do so and would undoubtedly not be the last. They hadn't even been _connected_ when Bucky had been ripped from the conn pod, hadn't even suffered the ripping of the neural link as Bucky's life faded, but Steve had still felt the connection almost as well as if they had been, could still recall exactly what it felt like as his co-pilot, his brother and other half, faded from him mind and body like a dream. If he didn't focus, if he let himself go ahead and stare blindly at his hands relaxing and clenching in his lap, Steve could still see the expression on his face, and feel the pain and fear he had gone through in their last moment -

"Feeling better, Captain?"

A voice called from the doorway and Steve whirled around to face a man he thought should look familiar, but for whom he had no name. The man had an indecipherable look on his face, something between a grimace and a smirk, and upon closer inspection was wearing the insignia of a Marshall. He was flanked by two people who were dressed in what looked like shatterdome uniforms but again, were not something Steve immediately recognized. Both wore headgear as though they were J-Tech and LOCCENT officers, but Steve thought it strange that nobody seemed familiar here. There was something about the whole situation that made him uneasy, so he didn't bother to answer the man's question. Of course, this didn't seem to phase any of the three, who all were staring at Steve as he assessed them.

"You took quite the fall in the Howling Commando, Captain. I thought we were going to have to unearth the whole Jaeger. Turns out that might have taken less time," the man continued, and Steve felt his brow tighten.

"What do you mean?" he finally asked, because the last thing he had consciously done was ensure that the Howling Commando had been ready for evac, just as Bucky had told him.

"When the evac teams arrived on the scene, the Howling Commando was face down in the water, and it took an hour to even find the hatch within all the seaweed that had gathered," explained the woman who standing farthest to the left, and Steve looked to her for further explanation. She didn't continue.

"I ensured that the Jaeger was upright," he insisted, "I don't understand how that could be possible."

"The whole situation is still an anomaly," the man on the far right spoke, adjusting his stance almost nervously, "The recordings imply that the Howling Commando was successfully operated by a single pilot and when evac arrived, you were the only pilot within the conn pod. The Neural handshake with the Commando continued all the way until the extraction, but you were unconscious when they removed you and reports show that the only systems running after communications were lost were the tracking and life systems. Studies have since revealed that almost everything else was fried in the electrical blast, and that tracking and life were only in operation because the neural activation was keeping them running, even through your unconsciousness." The man stopped himself and shifted again, actually looking sheepish for having spoken so much. The Marshall in front of him and the woman to the side both didn't react, but Steve shook his head, trying to understand.

"Studies?" he swallowed, because of course everything that was communicated in training and in battle between the conn pod and mission control was recorded and saved for careful analysis and records and for anything that might have gone wrong. Steve suspected his and Bucky's last fight would be listened to and analyzed by every scientists in every Shatterdome, as is usual when there is a new kind of Kaiju or a Jaeger's pilots are lost because of some error or another. Steve and Bucky went through at least twenty simulations that copied some of the exact situations that had felled pilots before them, simply so that it wouldn't happen again. But for them to already have been through the analysis, for them to be on the verge of understanding in such a way that already they knew more than the pilot? The last time Steve had awoken from a bad fight, Bucky had been next to him in another bed and they'd been bombarded with questions regarding the nature of the Kaiju related and for information on the Howling Commando that could be answered before the missions logs were analyzed. For them to already have this information...

"How long has it been since the battle?"

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves," the Marshall offered, stepping forward and extending his hand. "I am Marshall Nick Fury, I preside over the Los Angeles Shatterdome. Behind me stands Maria Hill and Phil Coulson, my top two J-Tech and LOCCENT Chiefs."

"What about Marshall Phillips?" Steve asked quickly, and Marshall Fury stopped and let out a distinct breath.

"Marshall Phillips retired two years ago. Rogers, you've been comatose for ten years; the world's moved on without you."

"What?" Steve gasped, clenching the bedside hard in his shock. "Ten years?"

"Almost exactly," Maria Hill replied, pressing forward before Steve had the chance to speak again. "About a month ago, there was a spike in your brain activity. Since then, we've been carefully monitoring you and slowly removing the life support systems as they've become redundant."

"Seems like you woke up at the perfect time, Rogers," Marshall Fury continued for her. "A lot has changed in ten years. There's a new Kaiju coming through the portal every time we finally knock another down, and morale drops with every downed Jaeger. The program's had to turn to private funding to keep itself running, and even then it seems like we're barely scraping by. If I didn't know any better, I might say you were something of a Godsend."

"I doubt that, sir," Steve replied easily, because nothing about the situation sounded anything like a Godsend. The Jaeger program was failing when the world needed it most, it seemed, and all while Steve had been sleeping, recovering from a poorly executed mission that cost him more than his pride. "Where is the rest of my team?" he asked finally, because even if the Colonel was retired, Peggy and the Howling Commando team had been young. There was no reason for them not to be present, or at least presiding somewhere within the Shatterdome. Steve hoped to meet up with them as soon as possible, if only to reassure himself and to try to piece together what, exactly, had happened.

Yet Marshall Fury shook his head and Steve's heart sank. "When the private enterprises made their takeover an official switch, a lot of the J-Tech and LOCCENT teams here in Los Angeles were spread out. Chief Carter and the team she had working under her were moved to the Anchorage Shatterdome to handle the new development Jaegers there. That Shatterdome was destroyed two years ago. I'm sorry."

"I see," Steve whispered, because his throat was suddenly dry and his chest felt tight. He tore his gaze from the man in front of him, looking instead down at his hands where the last of his medical support was being fed to him through a tube. He had always known it was a possibility, a Shatterdome being the target and falling under a Kaiju attack, but it had always felt like the LOCCENT was a safe place. That Peggy and the Howling Commando team had been in one when it was destroyed - and while Steve was _sleeping_ , no less - was a sting that returned all of the pain of loss crashing back into Steve. He sucked in a breath and carefully reminded himself that he couldn't afford to fall apart, not after ten years unconscious and still in the middle of the Kaiju War. There were more important things he had to worry about than his own burning pain, and there would always be time to mourn later.

"We were hoping," Phil Coulson said quietly, drawing Steve's attention back to the three people in front of him. He let out one more deep breath and met Phil's eyes, finding only a quiet understanding. It made it a little easier, to be watching a man that clearly sympathized with his pain at least. It was easier, with the Marshall and the J-Tech Chiefs watching him, to remember there was a job to do. "That you might be willing to consider piloting again."

Steve knew this would be the question he would face, knew it since the first person to come through his door had been a Marshall, but he felt his breath and words leave him in a rush. The idea of piloting again, of attaching his still reaching mind to somebody else so soon after losing Bucky was a terrifying thought.

"We understand it's a very large request that we're making," Maria Hill said quickly, "And we are willing to give you as much time as you need should you agree. There will be at least a week of physical therapy before we can even consider getting you into the conn pods again, so there is no rush on the decision."

"I understand," Steve said, but it was unnecessary. There was, after all, no question regarding what he would do, what he _should_ do. There were clearly still Kaiju out there, bigger and stronger Kaiju that required as many pilots as Earth could afford, even if they were broken and disconnected like Steve. He would learn to put aside the emptiness and find a way back into the drift with another. It wasn't like he would be the first pilot to change copilots, neither would he be the first to lose his partner. Others had moved on, and there were greater needs than his. "I'm willing to return as a Ranger as soon as I am physically able," he added, shifting his stiff knees slightly in emphasis. Then, seeking a bit of humor in the situation, Steve gave his best smirk. He hoped it looked less forced than it felt, because he needed the Marshall and the chiefs to believe that he was handling the situation better than he felt he was. Putting on a brave face when dealing with the ruins and survivors of a city destroyed by a Kaiju or the return of a single pilot from a Jaeger’s last tragic run wasn’t easy for Steve, and never had been, but it was easier than allowing himself to wallow in his own pain and loss. He even managed a small grin as he asked, "Will I at least be returning to the Howling Commando? I'm kind of attached, you know."

Coulson and Hill let out twin breaths of relief, and Marshall Fury actually chuckled.

"Like I said," he said through his quiet laughs, "A lot has changed. Even if the Howling Commando had been salvageable, there are better Jaegers out there. We're a private institution now, which means we have the best and brightest money can buy, even if that sometimes doesn't mean much. You'll be piloting a new Jaeger, working with a new pilot. Top of the line, and the top of his class, so hopefully you can show the government just what they're missing. I hear that's what the Commando used to be good at."

Steve didn't love the idea, but it wasn't like he had any better solution. Colonel Phillips had always said there was something about Steve and Bucky's "All-American Charm" that warmed crowds and brought support to the Jaeger program, and it was the Howling Commando that always frontlined on major efforts. With their increased popularity and success, Steve and Bucky had been able to pull away from the publicity side of the program, but Steve knew he wouldn't always be able to avoid going back to it. It wasn't like he could back to the way things were anyway, piloting the Howling Commando alongside Bucky. Hell, even the Colonel and his old team were gone, replaced with this new and unfamiliar team. If Steve and his new partner could best serve as a new face for the program, Steve couldn't say no.

He chose to nod silently at the Marshall, and fortunately Fury caught the gesture.

"Coulson is going to be your guide through the new Shatterdome and through your physical recovery, Rogers. We're hoping to have you back in a Jaeger before the next Kaiju decides to make this place its new stomping grounds. That is, of course, if you approve."

Steve glanced at Coulson, who seemed to look eager at the prospect. Steve sighed, because there was apparently a lot he had to learn about the new Jaeger systems and about the Kaiju War and about everything in general. He had a slew of new faces to meet and memorize, and a new partner to whom he needed to get accustomed, and quickly if Fury's implication that the Kaiju were coming much more rapidly was any indication. If anybody was likely to give it to him straight, it seemed like it would be Coulson.

"I'd like to get to know the Shatterdome as soon as possible," Steve agreed out loud. Coulson offered him a relieved smile and moved to help him stand. Steve gracefully accepted Coulson's hand on his elbow, but brushed aside the other that sought to support the majority of his weight. He eased himself onto the floor, noting the coolness of the concrete beneath him and shuddering with unused muscles only once before managing to stand straight. Phil Coulson continued to support him by the elbow, but mostly for balancing and to more easily guide the wobbling Steve down the correct paths.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve's physical recovery took less time than they were anticipating. A few weeks passed and Steve already was walking without issue, and began mentally and physically preparing himself to get back in a Jaeger. He knew that most of his hesitation was because he hated the idea of getting back into the conn pod and connecting in the drift with another pilot. He was actually grateful that he had gotten back on his feet so quickly, because he knew the rest of his recovery was going to be the hard part. On a particularly slow day, he decided to take the next step forward and asked to see the rest of the Shatterdome, including where the Jaegers were being maintenanced, which he hoped would trick or kickstart his mind back into the confidence he used to feel as a pilot.

The Los Angeles Shatterdome, frankly, was the largest building Steve had ever seen. So much had been added to it in the past ten years that Steve vaguely wondered why they hadn't gone with private funding in the first place, if it could build the Shatterdome to be this much bigger, this much more efficient.

"Most of the additions to the Shatterdome happened under Marshall Phillips," Phil explained, almost as though reading his mind, "And before the Jaeger program was bought out almost entirely by Stark Industries. About three years following the fall of the Howling Commando, Marshall Phillips sold a number of the Jaeger contracts to Howard Stark. Stark agreed that his company would maintain most of the design rights in exchange for keeping the Jaeger program running on the budget it needed.”

Steve had received an annotated history of Stark Industries and the rise of the privatized Jaeger. It was a necessity, of course, to begin studying the most successful teams, and what the Jaegers could do. Stark Industries had been a major part of that, having bought out most of the Shatterdomes and the rights to Jaeger and Kaiju research by the time Howard Stark died five years prior. Tony had inherited the company and, consequentially, the Jaeger program. Steve wasn't sure how he felt about the whole process. He and Bucky had worked strictly military, tied closely to the government and answering only to their ranked superiors. That wasn't how companies worked, however, and Steve had read the biographies on LA's biggest celebrity team too thoroughly to think there might not be some corporate influence.

"How did Tony Stark end up piloting a Jaeger?" Steve asked as they rounded the corner back into the main hall.

Phil halted, giving Steve a look that immediately implied that he wasn't really sure, but he continued to speak. "Mr. Stark was among the most prestigious J-Tech developers at Stark Industries. It was mostly through him that the Mark VII and VIIIs were developed and then put into production, and through Mr. Stark that training for those Jaegers began. He and Lt. Colonel Rhodes were the first to pilot the reactor-based Jaegers mostly so that Stark could test them out before releasing them for the program.”

"That sounds like a dangerous way to test out new technology," Steve noted, because who went out to test potentially dangerous equipment like that?

Tony Stark apparently did, and with little regard for his own safety or for the safety of his co-pilot. Steve wondered briefly about Lt. Rhodes, how the man could put his life on the line for something that could potentially go so wrong, but Steve was also familiar with the call of duty for the Rangers. For Tony and the lieutenant to be co-pilots meant that they had to trust each other, and that there was no saying _no_ even in the face of potential safety risks.

"It was dangerous," Phil replied quickly, and Steve was glad the man at least seemed to agree on that, "We were fortunate the new power system worked as well as Stark claimed it did. Now every Jaeger blueprint includes the reactor tech, and every Jaeger on the line gets one installed. We're just looking for the right pilots to operate them."

Reactor-based Jaegers were a new technology Steve had only heard about. It was a cleaner, more efficient power source for something as large as the Jaeger that was still affordable, although when Maria had tried to explain the technology Steve had easily admitted defeat. Physics and mechanics had never been his strong suit, and he had casually declined Maria's offer for further explanation with an easy, "As long as I can drive it, ma'am, it doesn't matter all that much how it works."

Still, he'd seen a few pictures of the reactor core in the new Jaeger and had to admit that he found them intriguing. They seemed to glow a bright blue, whereas the old cores glowed red with the burnt energy. Each Jaeger had its own specific design, too: Steve had seen only a handful of the Mark VIIs but couldn't help but compare their glassy cores with one another, appreciating the artistic touch that the reactor gave the robots. This was also a new concept for Steve, having Jaegers that could be both physically aesthetic and fit for battle. The Howling Commando had been a beast of a machine, well suited to fighting but lacking in any particular beautiful pieces; everything that had been done to make the Commando more appealing had been done by its team, and contained little more than a few vintage tattoo-pieces painted on the chest and arms. The new Jaegers were all curves and shine, and Steve couldn't wait to get a good look at them.

"Can we go to see the Mark VIIs and VIIIs?" he asked Phil as they rounded another corner, actually headed for the mess hall. Steve had already seen the mess hall in passing, and was growing more eager to meet the teams and see the Jaegers.

There was the briefest hesitation while Phil uneasily tapped his pen against their schedule clipboard. Steve bit his lip in anticipation, hoping that Phil would find the sense in hurrying along Steve's reintegration into the Jaeger program, and he was not disappointed. Finally an easy, "Sure," fell from Phil and they changed direction quickly, following the arrows for the Shatterdome's main structure. Steve let out the tiniest breath of relief and steeled himself to meet the new generation of Rangers. He didn't know what kind of pilots they might have working for them anymore (and if the differences in the J-Tech teams were anything to go by, very different), and he was loathe to admit it, but he was eager to find out how well he meshed with the new teams.

As expected, the hangar of the Shatterdome was much larger than the last time Steve had taken out the Howling Commando. He stopped in the main entrance, taking in the expansions with a quiet reserve, trying his best to remember what the hangar had looked like ten years ago and fathom how it had grown in such magnitudes since then.

"If nothing else, Stark Industries has not left the Jaeger program wanting," Phil said next to him, appearing at Steve’s side and gesturing into the hangar with a clipboarded hand. Steve continued forward, following the yellow-marked lines on the floor that tracked through the main walkways and up each hangar entrance to the surrounding Jaegers. From where he was, there were at least five Jaegers visible, and enough crew running around the crowded floor to manage at least ten more. Steve briefly wondered how often the Shatterdome saw action to have this many people running around so actively, but Phil's voice drew him from his thoughts. "I thought I might introduce you to our main teams," he said, and again gestured for Steve to follow his direction.

Steve nodded, following one of the paths marked on the floor to a particularly large Jaeger nearest the entrance. As Steve looked up at it, he caught flashes of silver and green and blue, jagged streaks of color that flowed up the Jaeger like they had been struck on there by some force rather than painted. At the top a massive Conn-pod hung over the Jaeger, held up by an equally massive helmet that looked like it draped over the shoulders and flared out at least as wide as the Jaeger itself. Steve caught himself staring up at it, awed by the size and clear power of the robot in front of him.

His attention was drawn away when a hearty, tremendous laugh resonated from down the path, and Steve drew his eyes downward to catch sight of the team hanging around the Jaeger with which he had become so fascinated. There were two men who towered over the rest, dressed to the Ranger nines in shiny metallic drive suits. The larger of the two, a beefy blond man that Steve thought looked like he might fit in better with a crowd of lumberjacks, was laughing uproariously at something his partner had said. He had lain a silver-clad gauntlet on the other man's shoulder, although the gold-adorned man at whom he was laughing did not look amused, and immediately removed the other's hand with such an air of disdain that Steve swore he could feel it from where he stood. But the two continued talking despite their obvious disagreement, and Steve turned to Phil for explanation.

"Those are the Odinson brothers and their Jaeger, Odin Fury," Phil explained quickly. "They were brought in out of Norway and before you say anything, I know that's strange."

Steve looked to Phil to continue, so the man grinned and did so. "With the increased need for pilots, the call went out to every country to contribute to the growing Jaeger program. Normally in that situation you would see a lot of countries turning down the offer, since there's so little to gain for a country not involved."

Steve nodded, understanding. In times of war, countries were less inclined to take part unless they were directly involved. It made sense that the Atlantic coastal cities had since remained aloof from the Pacific Kaiju problem, offering little more than advice through the UN. Steve wasn't surprised and could understand historically where they were coming from, but it had always made his blood boil that a nation - that entire continents in some cases - could stay so thoroughly out of a fight that clearly affected the entire world.

"The Jaeger program, fortunately, offered its own sort of reward in terms of publicity for the pilots and for their home countries. Within a year of the call, we saw fifteen European contributions and seven African contributions alone to the Russian and Chinese Shatterdomes. Some of our best pilots of the past decade have been from those teams, as I'm sure you've read in your update files.”

Again, Steve nodded. He hadn't thought much of it at the time and had made note to ask later, but he had been curious about the origin countries of some of the teams in the major battles he had read about. The British Jaeger piloted by the Braddock siblings had stood out because of the sheer willpower and talent the twins had possessed before going down somewhere in the Pacific, and Steve could remember reading about an alloyed Jaeger out of Wakanda that had been piloted by a father-son team until half the team had been lost (and Steve felt his heart tug every time he read about other pilots that had suffered the same as him) and the Wakandan prince had returned to his people.

"Most of our pilots here are American, although we've received more from the Shatterdomes overseas that have been shut down or destroyed. Odin Fury is an example of that, sent in alongside Striker Delta after Vladivostok closed its port. I'll show you to Striker Delta and its team now. I think you'll find Lts. Romanov and Barton more your speed, Rogers."

The two of them turned from the rise of more boisterous laughter echoing against the Odin Fury to a considerably smaller Jaeger situated in the next hangar down. This new Jaeger was a sleek black number, coming perhaps to Odin Fury’s chest and sizing in at half its mass, if that. Striker Delta was clearly built for a different function than its neighbor, with more emphasis in the joints and limbs than in the bulk of the machine. As Steve glanced down towards its pilots, however, he immediately understood why.

There were two people sparring just at the foot of the Jaeger while the rest of the team either looked on or worked around them. One pilot was a dirty blond man, not quite Steve's height but taller than Phil, and packed in with muscle so tight Steve couldn't help but think of a coil ready to spring forth. He and his partner were fighting in a martial arts style that Steve didn't immediately recognize, but the pull and twist of the man's body implied that he was an expert.

His partner was not having such luck. This was a girl, and Steve thought _girl_ because she looked as though she had not yet hit eighteen. She was much smaller than the man, with long black hair and a less toned body. The girl instead sported a smirk, and as Steve and Phil drew nearer Steve realized this was because she was throwing taunts at the man in front of her and he was responding in kind. The were throwing insults in the same way that they were throwing their limbs into each other, and Steve's ears burned as he finally caught wind of what they were saying.

"Bishop's going to need more discipline training if we want her in shape in the next few months," A woman's voice rang from behind them, and both Steve and Phil turned to come face to face with a scowling redhead. She had a frown on her face and was watching the fight rather than looking at either Phil or Steve, but Phil offered his agreement.

"It's at least a good show that she's compatible with Barton. I'll speak with him about making sure to incorporate more of the disciplines in her studies from here on, though." There was a heavy silence where the redhead nodded but didn't otherwise move and Steve felt himself twitch on the balls of his feet. "My apologies," Phil finally said, jumping a little as he realized the silence had become awkward, "Lt. Romanov, this is Captain Rogers. He'll be returning to our team as soon as he is comfortable. Steve, this is Lt. Natasha Romanov of the Vladivostok Shatterdome."

Steve offered his hand but the woman didn't take it. She instead watched him with a look that he couldn't identify, staring hard at him as he resisted the urge to squirm under her gaze. There was at least something very cold in the way she stared, something that Steve didn't think she used on all the pilots she had just met, but he couldn't fathom why or how he might be the receiver other than simply being the new guy here in Los Angeles. He finally let his hand drop after a few pressured moments and turned back to Phil, confusion on his brow. "Sir, I thought you said Lt. Romanov was a pilot with Lt. Barton. Why is Barton training for compatibility with... with somebody else?" He gestured towards where Lt. Barton was finishing his match against the girl Lt. Romanov had called Bishop by sending the girl sprawling across the floor and laughing at her as he helped her up.

"After Anchorage was destroyed the Academy was disbanded and the surviving students disbursed," Phil answered easily, "Kate Bishop was of those still interested in training for the Jaeger program, and so we accepted her along with a number of apprentices here in Los Angeles so that they could train directly under the pilots. Lt. Barton has volunteered some of his time and has found Bishop to be drift compatible with him, in case we ever need to replace Lt. Romanov."

"We've found it's easier to keep pilots trained with a number of partners," Lt. Romanov cut in for him, "Makes us more prepared when the occasion arises." She didn't directly say it, but the look she was giving Steve implied she meant for cases like _his_. He supposed that made sense, since they were in need of good pilots and couldn't afford to put any out of commission long enough to recover and then find a new pilot. Still, it seemed morbid to have their numbers lined up and ready to take over literally as they fell, and Steve suppressed a shudder at Lt. Romanov's easy acceptance of it.

"Phil," Lt. Barton called as he joined their small crowd, and Steve was suddenly grateful for the reprieve. Phil did not look so happy, however, and scowled a little deeper as he turned to the other man.

"That's J-Tech Chief Coulson, Lieutenant," he corrected quickly, looking pointedly at Bishop as she approached behind Lt. Barton. But Barton didn't seem that worried, a cocky grin much like his sparring partner’s spreading across his face.

"Seriously?" he asked, crossing his arms, "Kate knows the rules already. And it feels weird, J-Tech Chief Coulson. Who's the new guy you're showing off for, anyway?"

Again, Steve extended his hand as Phil gave his introduction, and he was secretly relieved when Lt. Barton - Clint, the man insisted - shook his back. Kate also took his hand, equally as confident as her mentor. Steve offered them both the smile he'd learned to wear back in the beginning, still not quite confident of his place in this new team but already feeling better about it.

"Has he seen War Iron yet?" Kate asked suddenly, pointing off down the hangar as a lull in conversation grew. Steve shook his head, looking to Phil, who looked more hesitant than he had the entire day.

"Not yet," he said slowly, and looked towards where Kate was pointing.

"Stark will want to meet him," Natasha - still Lt. Romanov, Steve reminded himself - said to Phil, but it only made him scowl harder.

"Stark could stand to not have his way sometimes," Phil argued back, quickly and so sharp that immediately Steve wondered what it was about Stark that made Phil so uncomfortable. The man had done everything so far to hide any clear irritations, but something about Stark seemed to set him off, making Steve eager to find out what.

He didn't have to wait long, as an unfamiliar voice suddenly cut in from behind them and everybody, including Steve, whirled around to follow it.

"Stark could stand to have what not his way?" A man was asking, and looking at the man's easy smirk and confident swagger, there was no doubt in Steve's mind that this man was Tony Stark.


	4. Chapter 4

Phil let out a low groan that Steve suspected only he and Clint, standing in Phil's immediately vicinity, could hear. Tony Stark joined them as Phil made an indiscreet motion of reorganizing the papers that were attached to his clipboard, a motion that Steve realized Tony noticed and deliberately ignored as he moved into the space and stood as close as he could to Phil without physically touching the man.

"Mr. Stark," Steve offered, extending his hand as he had done for the others and hoping to assuage the frustration that was visibly building on Phil's face. He took the time to get a good look at Tony Stark, who was already much more and much less what Steve expected. He was very attractive, in spite of some obvious aging - or maybe because of it, and carried an air that demanded attention from those around him. The man wasn't short but didn't quite come up to Phil or Clint's height physically despite his larger presence. With Phil it didn't seem so ridiculous, since Phil was wearing dress shoes and Tony didn't have on more than the regulation booties attached to the circuitry undersuit, but Clint was barefoot. Tony also lacked the regulation haircut most of the Rangers wore in Steve's time and which he had seen recently in the mess hall, going instead for a relatively untamed style that looked like it had been achieved with a lot of time and hair product. He tried not to scowl in disapproval and only focused on holding his hand steadier. "I don't believe we've yet met. I'm Captain Steve Rogers - "

" _The_ Captain Rogers?" Tony asked, interrupting Steve mid-introduction and ignoring his outstretched hand, "The Captain Rogers who went down ten years ago and has been leeching my technology in his catatonic sleep since?"

"The very same Captain whose Jaeger successfully took down more Kaiju in his single year than your entire record," Clint cut in over Steve's astonished gaping. It seemed like the blond man was joking - it was the only thing Steve had seen Clint do yet, surely such a negative comment was the same - but Tony scowled at the implications in his voice, and did not break his gaze with Steve. Steve, for the most part, did his best to seem as inoffensive as he could.

"I'm sure that isn't true," he said shyly as Tony finally but reluctantly took his hand and shook it hard, as though trying to prove the point through handshake alone.

"Of course it isn't," he replied easily, "Since there is no Jaeger like mine. Surely you've heard of the War Iron, Captain, the first Jaeger in existence to run fully off an arc reactor core. And I'm sure you've met my copilot. Rhodey's the most effective weapons strategist in a Jaeger this side of Tokyo - "

"And it's still technically Lieutenant Colonel to you, Stark."

Steve turned his gaze over Tony’s shoulder to see another man walking down the path, this one also in a pilot's circuitry uniform lacking the drive suit. Steve noted that he did in fact wear the insignia of a Lt. Colonel on his suit, embroidered on so that it would not interfere with the Jaeger's connections. Steve saluted the man alongside the others of rank as he finally reached their growing group, and the man saluted quickly in return before leveling Tony with a hard gaze. This man was dark skinned and sported a very serious expression even without the gaze, but Steve found that was much more comfortable and familiar than Tony’s easy informality. He was about the same size as Clint, with his hair in a more familiar military cut and a stance that screamed discipline and importance.

"Rhodeybear, not in front of our new friends," Tony admonished, unphased by the man's appearance or demeanor, and the look on Rhodes's face surprisingly melted off. He locked eyes with Steve as Tony gestured to him and Steve was pleasantly surprised when he found himself the one being offered a handshake. He returned it gratefully, a smile spreading across his face more readily now. He'd read extensively about Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes in the papers that SHIELD had provided for him as an update to the current state of affairs. Rhodes had been listed with Tony Stark as the pilot for the War Iron and sported an impressive drop record in the Jaeger, alongside a brief history of Rhodes's military history and skills.

"It's an honor to meet you, Captain Rogers," the Lt. Colonel said earnestly, and wasn't that strange to hear from a superior? "You and Captain Barnes were an inspiration for me and for the rest of my class at the Academy. You of course have my sincere condolences in regards to Captain Barnes, and my apologies for anything Stark has said that may be offensive on the matter."

"There was no offense," Steve lied, mostly to try to cover the muttered, "Stark's always an offense," that came from Phil but also to hide the flinch he felt rise up at the mention of his deceased copilot and brother. He turned his gaze from Rhodes to try to hide the unconscious reaction only to make contact with Natasha, who was eyeing him again. Steve was careful to school his face before he continued talking. "It has been an honor meeting today's pilots, although I'm afraid I didn't catch your rank, Mr. Stark."

"Not a soldier, big guy," Tony replied quickly, and in such a tone that Steve immediately recognized it for the challenge it was. "I invented the Jaeger; I get to fly her."

It shouldn't have been a surprise for Steve, since all the others had been named by rank and had military histories that had been briefed in Steve's packets. Tony was a businessman first and foremost, and practically owned the Jaeger program. If his attitude now said anything, Steve imagined it would have been impossible to get the man through the official military channels (on discipline alone, not to mention the time requirements and the restrictions). He had probably wormed his way through the systems by sheer force of will, or at least through financial force when his mouth couldn't get him there. Still, it was strange to see such a challenge in Tony that it made Steve feel uncomfortable, and he shifted his stance in order to hide his discomfort. He made a mental note to do his best to keep away from Tony for the time being, at least until he could get a better feel for the man or until Tony did something that made Steve more confident in his character. As it stood, Rhodes was the only reason Steve was willing to have anything to do with the Jaeger known as War Iron.

"Tony and Lt. Colonel Rhodes are the only two pilots familiar enough with the arc reactor technology to properly pilot the War Iron," Phil explained more formally, "Although training is in the works for the new line of Mark IXs. We've had a number of Cadets eager to try them, and the production line is ready to go as soon as we have confirmed pilots."

"And I doubt you'll have much luck," Tony quipped back. "Parker's the closest to understanding and his copilot hasn't even hit sixteen yet. If you'll recall, the last time you tried to rush the Mark IXs you ended up with a Hammer-sized disaster." There was a story in there that Steve knew he was missing because everybody seemed to grow serious around him. He scowled as Phil and Tony continued to glare at each other, until the walkie on Phil's belt went off and he looked away to answer it through his headset.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this meeting short," Phil finally said after a few hushed moments among the pilots. It seemed that every time the communicators went off, there was something vitally important happening in the Shatterdome and even the likes of Tony knew to stay quiet and wait for orders. Steve perked up at Phil's tone, body instantly ready for whatever was needed of him. "There's been a Kaiju reading at the breach, and it looks as though we may be reading a Category five."

This news was met with mostly hushed professionalism, but the energy levels noticeably spiked around Steve and he was amazed to find the tone of the hangar suddenly and drastically different. Phil was reading the basic characteristics of the new Kaiju, editing as information came in through his headset and side stepping all the personnel that had come alive around them. The entire Shatterdome had awoken, it seemed, and was actively trying to prepare the small fleet of Jaegers for launch.

"We're going to send all four teams out to try to handle this," Phil continued as Steve tuned back in, berating his absentmindedness in the face of an attack, "Use it as a test of your abilities as a team as well as backup for the Captain and his new copilot. Captain Rogers, if you're ready to meet him, he's waiting by your Jaeger, prepared at the other end of the hangar. You'll be point on this mission."

Steve nodded numbly, because this was the moment he had been alternately anticipating and dreading. When they had asked him if he was willing to accept a new copilot he had easily agreed because it was the only way he would ever get to pilot a Jaeger again. Bucky was still fresh in his mind, and still a raw pain, but there were Kaiju that needed to be defeated and piloting again was what Bucky would have wanted for him, anyway. It was a ridiculous and insulting notion to think Bucky would accept him pouting and rotting in a room while others were risking their lives to protect the planet, and so Steve had accepted with hardly a second thought. They were trained Rangers, all of them, and Steve was practiced enough to keep his cool in the drift with almost anybody. He'd told his doctors and superiors as much, and had only heard background discussion about who his copilot should be since. Steve assumed he would be meeting a number of potential candidates before accepting a partner, but it seemed Phil was willing to put him in a Jaeger immediately with a pilot he felt the most appropriate. If it meant Steve could join the mission, he was easily willing to give this pilot a chance.

The trip to his Jaeger seemed like a shorter trip than Steve imagined as they made their way towards the other end, a mile long journey across familiar and unfamiliar platforms and machines and people that Steve lost to the vague train of thought that kept puttering through his head. They were stopped and standing at the foot of an unfamiliar Jaeger almost before Steve could fathom that they had crossed the Shatterdome, and he looked up in disbelief at the robot he had been assigned to pilot.

The Jaeger was big, bigger definitely than Striker Delta and almost the same height as the Odin Fury although severely lacking the mass. This Jaeger was also more brightly painted, sporting a hot rod red down its arms and legs with white accents over a royal blue body. It screamed patriotic in a way that took Steve immediately back to the platforms of the early Jaeger program, where success was less about talent and more about gaining funding. Steve was glad to know this was most likely more about his copilot's personal preference or about stirring his own nostalgia rather than calling upon his dancing monkey act once again.

"Kind of beautiful, am I right?" A young man asked as he approached them and Steve immediately recognized him from some of the training he had done during recovery. This was Sam Wilson, a recently promoted Ranger who had passed every simulation that had been thrown at him (forty-six, he'd told Steve proudly, and Steve had to agree it was a good number to boast) but had yet to see any action. Wilson had instead spent most of his free time lately on the J-Tech side of the Shatterdome, working with Stark and his developers to perfect the programming within the Jaegers. It was clear to Steve that the man was brilliant, and easy going in a way that made him more of a pleasure to be around. Steve had been comfortable in their sparring sessions and realized now that those had been more than just simple recovery as he had previously assumed. Still, it was nice to see his new copilot was somebody with whom he knew he got along. It had taken all of his previous training to remind himself that he could learn to drift with anybody, even somebody as boisterous as Tony Stark if he needed to, but this was definitely a relief after the wind up.

"We'll know once we get her out there," Steve replied, "Although I can't deny that I like the suits." He was referring to the drive suit Wilson now sported, a mostly white number that listed their name and rank on the chest piece but otherwise mostly lacked decoration. It didn't presume anything about him or his partner, and didn't force any notions upon them. Wilson seemed to agree, as a confident smile lit up his face and he nodded his assent.

"Neural handshake in fifteen," Phil warned as he began to walk off, waving both Steve and Wilson away as he retreated back up the hangar with his communications headset plastered firmly into his ear.

Steve looked on helplessly as his guide disappeared, but Wilson led him to their lockers with a quick, "This way." Finding them was not hard, as lockers were all accessible through the hangar, and changing into his own drive suit was a quick and comfortable process. Steve noted the changes as he was suited up by a team of technicians, mentally calculating the differences in the spinal connections and adjusting his stance and body for differences in the suit himself. He kept himself occupied while Wilson spoke around the technicians, answering any questions Steve had about the suit and filling the empty space with descriptions of their Jaeger and about what he had heard from the LOCCENT regarding the latest Kaiju.

"And I'd just like you to know," Wilson finally said as the last of Steve's uniform was assembled and the two were lead to the head of their Jaeger, "That is is an honor to pilot with you."

Steve stopped in the hallway and looked to Wilson next to him, ignoring the brushes of the J-Tech around him to keep him moving. He locked eyes with Wilson, seeing only respect from the man, so he reached out and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"It is my honor to join you, Sam," Steve said cooly, "And I'm glad they found us compatible. I only hope I'm not a disappointment in the field for you after this many years."

At that, Sam gave a huge laugh. "I doubt you even could be a disappointment, Cap," the man said plainly, "Although I guess there's only one way to find that out." He gestured ahead of them and Steve found himself smiling and chuckling in return. "Let's get in that Jaeger and see just what you can do."

Stepping over the threshold and actually into a Conn pod was a moment that Steve knew he'd have to prepare for, although the actual act came much sooner than he'd been expecting. As he followed Sam into the pod, the dread that had been coursing through him since waking felt as though it was suddenly draining away, and his body began to naturally adjust to being in the Conn-pod. He followed Sam to the platforms and chose the one opposite his old platform in the Howling Commando, where Bucky used to stand, and took a moment to look around. The inside was different enough from the Howling Commando that there were no sharp or painful memories that arose just from looking inside. Everything that felt familiar was electronic, something within the machinery itself or wired into his mind to understand that _This is a Jaeger and I am its pilot,_ and Steve found it easier to step onto the platform and prepare himself for the neural handshake than he could have dreamed. Sam watched him move slowly with a careful but patient gaze, waiting until Steve was situated before taking his own position and grinning like the cat who'd gotten the milk and the canary as he locked his feet into the platform and his arms into their restraints. They both donned their helmets at the same time, sharing an anticipatory glance as faces disappeared behind metal and glass and for a moment Steve was taken back to ten years prior. But the suits weren't the same and the environment served as an anchor, and Steve reminded himself that he would be in this man's head soon enough, drawn away from his ghosting memories of another copilot and rooted firmly in the presence of Sam Wilson.

Steve instead decided to focus on the mechanics and details of his surroundings. Their Jaeger's name, Steve had found out as they prepared their drive suits, was the American Falcon, and Steve felt as though he would laugh for days at the title. But it nevertheless felt appropriate for the Jaeger, and as the countdown began for their neural handshake, Steve decided he actually quite liked the title. It was familiar, reminiscent of the old war planes while still holding a different familiarity in the way it made him think of his experiences with Sam so far.

"Remember not to chase the rabbit," Sam reminded him as the overhead voice (a man, when had they replaced the old computer's voice for a man's?) drew nearer to zero, and Steve couldn't help but fall into his routine grin at the phrase. It seemed silly, to warn old pilots and experienced Rangers about the dangers of getting lost in the drift, but it always seemed to help prevent it. In Steve's experience, the few times copilots hadn't uttered the simple phrase at each other had been the times where there was one memory too many, or a pilot finally cracked under his own pressure. It was reassuring that Sam had been the one to issue the reminder, because Steve’s biggest fear was that his memories would inevitably bleed into the drift and his new partner would be swept up in the terrible thoughts. His memories - the distant pull on his arm, the pain that tore through his head that he could easily recall any minute of any day - were not something to be easily ignored and it had been years since Steve had to practice keeping them at bay. Sam’s brief but familiar reminder told Steve that the man was ready for such a disaster, and that they would not be affected by it at an inopportune time.

"Initializing Neural Handshake," the computer called, tearing Steve from his thoughts and forcing him to clear his mind as he was suddenly engulfed in an imagined light. The habitual pull of the drift and the sudden wave of new thoughts and memories was enough to ensure that Steve stayed in the present, and he focused on the flowing tide of the drift to keep his own thoughts and memories at bay. Sam Wilson's mind was unsurprisingly a lot like his own: the man had an accomplished military background that stemmed from a desire to help people. He had a rough childhood but had taken many fond memories which he kept just on the edges of the drift in order to help guide him through, and Steve felt himself mentally relax into the mindframe the two men were able to create.

There was a sudden jarring in his mind as Steve felt Sam pull on the memories he had retained from the last moments in the Howling Commando, and Steve's own body seized up as he felt Sam catch in the drift. Flashes of those memories passed through his mind, but he did his best to block himself from them.

"It's just a memory, it'll pass," he chanted as he felt Sam's breath hitch and his mind flinch from the anguish of reliving the memory. "Just let it pass," he soothed again, and slowly but surely he felt the memory slip away and back into the drift. If he looked hard enough, he could just catch the beads of sweat under Sam's helmet where the man had been reimagining the trauma and he could see the heaving of Sam's chest as he returned to himself.

“I’m sorry,” Steve murmured to the man, watching carefully for signs that Sam needed to be removed from his drive suit or the Jaeger.

"If I ever relive that again it'll be two times too many," Sam finally manage to mutter back at him, grasping at his uniform just above his heart and readjusting as though getting more comfortable. Relief swept through Steve and he muttered an agreement under his breath as the two turned towards the console.

"Neural handshake complete," Steve called into the comms, "American Falcon is ready for battle."

 _Are you sure you're ready?_ Steve heard in his head, although he was uncertain whether it was him asking the question or if it was Sam. He glanced over to his copilot, who was looking at him with a mix of understanding and confidence, and felt more than saw as he and Sam nodded together and made a fist through the Jaeger's hand. Sam let out a whoop as Steve's adrenaline kicked in and he took a deep breath in preparation.

"Now let's say we get out there and kick some Kaiju butt!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chatter on the comms was immediate as American Falcon was dropped alongside its teammates. Steve and Sam allowed their knees to bend under the pressure, but came back up as all the systems checks from the other teams began to ring over the conn pod. Location data, pilot vitals, and current strategy began feeding into Steve both from Sam to his left and the comms, and Steve took a moment to sort it all before he and Sam pushed forward and began to move the American Falcon to the Kaiju in question's last known location.

 

Steve hesitated before announcing a battle strategy, but Sam leveled him with a look. We're point here, he thought sharply, the slightest irritation with Steve's hesitance, and Steve immediately felt silly for even having it. Of course they were lead, Rhodes was the only officer out here with a superior rank and he was copiloting alongside Stark, the wild card. It only made sense that Steve would lead, and he had the tactical skill to do so besides. Steve was surprised they were trusting him with it already, but hesitance and shyness had never won him any battles before.

 

"Extraneous abilities are currently unknown," Steve announced over the comms, "We're still looking for clues. If you see something that looks suspicious, report it. Until then Striker Delta will take the six o'clock while Sam and I take front. Odin Fury, War Iron, you're flanking with distance." He'd read up on the abilities of the other Jaegers while he was recovering, and this seemed to suit their strongest abilities. Striker Delta could deliver stealthier blows from behind while the American Falcon wailed on whatever it was from the front. Odin Fury contained a number of abilities that could fire long range, from a nitrogenous freeze canon to a shock pulsar that replaced its plasma cannon. War Iron, similarly, was equipped with not one but three canons, each providing a blast of residue power from the arc reactor core that acted similarly to the normal plasma cannon. Unlike the normal plasma cannons that both Striker Delta and the American Falcon contained, however, both Odin Fury and War Iron could _aim_ their shots, and could be as effective from a distance as up close.

 

"My ass are we going to stand back while you get all the fun," Tony interrupted from his Conn pod, and Steve could hear the smirk he was wearing through the tone alone. Rhodes let out a grunt that sounded thoroughly unimpressed but didn’t say anything else. Steve imagined the man was probably shaking his head, but War Iron took off not a moment later, running at top speed away from the formation in the bay and headed straight for the Kaiju's location.

 

"Stark!" Steve shouted, a little flabbergasted at Tony and Rhodes’s sudden disappearance, "Get back in formation, we've got to do this as a team!"

 

War Iron did not respond, but Steve had frankly expected as much. He shot an exasperated look to Sam, who expressed a similar sentiment through the drift, before redelivering orders. "Striker Delta, follow War Iron, try to keep the Kaiju occupied until Sam and I can get there. Odin Fury, you're still with me. Original plan."

 

"Aye, Captain," both Thor and Loki said together, just as Clint and Natasha offered their own affirmative. Striker Delta took off at an impressive speed behind War Iron, to the point that Steve had the hopeful notion that they might be able to catch up to the rogue Jaeger. It took Steve a moment to get over his appreciation of the latest abilities in Jaeger development, but he shook his head as he did so and readjusted the grip in his drive suit. He and Sam started running as well, but at a considerably slower pace considering the bulk and ability of their own Jaeger. Odin Fury plowed on behind him, just a touch slower but making much larger waves.

 

"War Iron has initiated combat with the Kaiju," Striker Delta reported from ahead as Steve was starting to think they were getting good mileage. He let out a curse through his teeth as he heard the crashes and cries of battle through their communications links, and let Sam's steady temper through the drift return him to calmness.

 

"Any sign yet on what we're dealing with here?" he asked, trying to focus more on what to do about that battle than all the problems arising. As the team lead, it was his responsibility to react to problems and errors and correct for them, not get angry that they were happening. That this was entirely the fault of their most boisterous pilot wasn't something Steve could address until after the battle.

 

"Nothing yet,” Sam replied, “We're working under codename Ratsel right now, although Mammut may also be acceptable. Current estimate is two times normal size, currently tripling Striker Delta. There otherwise appears to be nothing distinct about this Kaiju, in shape or in ability. Captain, what is your call?"

 

Steve paused only briefly, not allowing their Jaeger to slow as he thought about it. "Continue to keep it busy and monitor the status on the War Iron. If something goes wrong make sure to call it immediately. Begin further analysis on any identifiable abilities. We know better than to make assumptions. Odin Fury, we are double timing until we arrive on location, and then I want you at a distance and aiming for the side opposite War Iron. Striker Delta, make sure you're staying out of Thor and Loki's way.”

 

A resounding affirmative reached Steve's ears and he allowed himself a moment of pride for the formation and confidence he had in his team, even if it temporarily didn't include Tony Stark or the War Iron. Steve still wasn't sure what drove Lt. Colonel Rhodes to allow Stark to act the way he was, but he intended to find out, if only later.

 

"Approaching target," Sam interrupted, as though he sensed that Steve had stewed in his own resentment again for long enough, "Are you ready, Steve?"

 

There was no need for Steve to speak out loud because already he and Sam were sharing strategy in the drift, analyzing scenarios and accounting for everything they could imagine. Steve already knew not to rely on a Kaiju's peculiar size to define its strengths or weaknesses, and Sam easily accepted his wariness. As they approached, however, it seemed easier to do so. The Kaiju was as Striker Delta had described, standing nearly twice as tall as War Iron although not particularly muscular or bulky. It was fighting with a set of claws on both of its front paws, rearing up on hindquarters to strike out at the Jaeger laying practically beneath it. War Iron was putting up its own fight, however, blasting the Kaiju with the reactor both from its chest and from its fists. Striker Delta was hardly visible, and it took Steve a moment for him to catch sight of the smaller Jaeger, crouched low against the water behind the Kaiju as it maneuvered around tail and legs to deliver gashes and bruises anywhere it could reach from behind.

 

Odin Fury let out a roar of screeching metal and increasing power as it raced forward, bracing itself against the ocean floor as its fists finally reached full charge and it began to take aim against the giant Kaiju. Steve and Sam exchanged the briefest look before they, too, surged forward in order to join the fray.

 

"War Iron, fall back, we have to stay in formation if we want this plan to work - " Steve tried shouting over the comms, but the background noise was loud and the War Iron was plowing itself away from where the American Falcon was approaching, aiming straight for the underbelly of roaring Kaiju. American Falcon shuddered as Steve clenched his fists in anger, barely suppressing the rage at such a blatant disrespect. The rogue Jaeger didn't even pause until it had successfully dodged and weaved its way around nearly the entirety of the Kaiju and decked as hard as the Jaeger could deliver into the meaty flesh of the Kaiju's side, which sent the monster backwards and onto its opposite flank. It occurred to Steve that neither Lt. Colonel Rhodes nor Stark had yet to say a word since Stark had cut them off earlier, and Steve again decided to have words with the men once they finished here about proper protocol.

 

"Continue as planned!" he instead shouted into the comms, knowing Striker Delta and Odin Fury would understand. American Falcon joined in the fray at the front of the Kaiju, aiming for the side of the face that War Iron wasn't near and landing a few clean hits against its jaw and cheekbones. The two Jaegers proceeded like this, delivering physical blows when War Iron's reactor blasts weren't convenient, dodging the electric bullets of Odin Fury's cannon, and ensuring that Striker Delta remained out of their range and the Kaiju's. It quickly began to wear on the beast, who slowed shortly after the assault as it took reactor blast after reactor blast directly to its face and vulnerable side. Steve was beginning to feel more confident in the battle, letting some of the adrenaline take over and his natural abilities as a pilot guide him alongside Sam, using his mind instead to try to capture and consider the easy teamwork all four Jaegers seemed to inspire. He begrudgingly admitted that they all seemed unusually natural at working together even despite Stark's inability to follow a team plan. Mammut seemed confused by the constant assault from all sides, unsure whether to go for one Jaeger or another and managing only to turn itself around. Striker Delta managed to always stay behind the Kaiju, confusing it further as it searched for the source of the bleeding gashes appearing all down its side and legs. Even to Steve's trained eyes Striker Delta seemed little more than a phantom, moving in and out of both the other Jaegers' and Mammut's spaces like it belonged there. War Iron and Odin Fury similarly worked as well in this team, focusing mostly on the parts of the Kaiju closest to them but never missing an effective shot. Like American Falcon, both Jaegers seemed adept at pinpointing weaknesses and exploiting them.

 

"I told you it wouldn't be a problem," Tony suddenly announced over the comms, and Steve scowled harder as he heard the winded laugh of Lt. Colonel Rhodes over the speaker as well. He wondered briefly why Tony would deign speak on the comms now, but there was a gloating tone in his voice that told him exactly why. The man was a natural show off, ignoring safety and strategy in the name of choosing the most daring or flashy combat.

 

"You should have followed the plan!" Steve shouted back over the roar of bending joints and screaming Kaiju. "We had no idea what we were getting into and you could have put yourself and your team in danger!"

 

"I would hardly call this danger, Cap - " Stark said, but cut himself off as the Kaiju began to aim specifically for War Iron and managed to tear a gash in its metal with its claws. It wasn't a terribly deep gash, mostly scratching the exoskeleton of the robot, but it clearly came as a shock to both Tony and Rhodes, who froze in their Jaeger as they fell into a dodge.

 

Steve opened his mouth in order to let out something of an I told you so, but there was suddenly the feeling of alarm from Sam that Steve felt permeate the drift like ice, and the two watched in horror as the Kaiju let out a roar of triumph and must have decided that this was its best chance to attack the weakness. It began to immediately focus solely on War Iron with all of its attacks, moving into War Iron's space until it seemed like it might be overbearing for the Jaeger. Many of Mammut's lunges or swings fell short or missed entirely because it had been rendered mostly blind by the beating it had suffered under the four-Jaeger team, but it saw well enough to catch where War Iron was moving, and managed to catch a lucky break when War Iron accidently dodged into an alternatively moving fist. The Jaeger was sent sprawling as it was backhanded by the huge beast, and thrown into the water as though it were half its size. The other Jaegers moved in to help War Iron immediately as the Kaiju pounced and mostly managed to catch the Jaeger half-submerged with its teeth and claws, using its weight to hold it down. Odin Fury began to gather a huge charge of electricity between the palms of the robot, clearly collecting what would equate to a finishing blow on any usual Kaiju. Striker Delta moved in closer to look for weaknesses, attacking new points and pulling on the Kaiju as it slashed at War Iron's plexiglass face.

 

Steve and Sam watched for the most part, attacking parts of the Kaiju that seemed the most vulnerable and working on a plan to try to free War Iron. It clearly was not going to happen on its own, as War Iron continued to assault the Kaiju with almost worthless attacks to its arms and legs and Striker Delta couldn't seem to get an effective hit in. The larger Kaiju was determined to keep its prey, and they were rapidly running out of time.

 

There was a resounding crack that Steve heard immediately and it set his mind in motion. He began searching the databases of the American Falcon, searching more urgently for a way to stop the Kaiju as the crack revealed his worst nightmare - the claws of Mammut had successfully cracked the plating on the front of War Iron and would be breaching the Conn Pod at any moment. It was at this time that War Iron began to flail more freely, sending smaller blasts from the reactors in its palms and chest and even, occasionally, from the bottoms of its feet when they were raised in the air in an attempt to throw off the gigantic Kaiju. But nothing seemed to be working and Steve willed himself not the panic over the potential loss of another team.

 

"Anytime on your cannons," Steve urged to Odin Fury, hoping their weapon was appropriately charged and could handle the situation before War Iron's entire front cracked open and Rhodes and Stark were laid susceptible to not only the water around the Jaeger's helmet but also the most dangerous parts of Mammut.

 

"Momentarily, Captain," Loki responded coldly, but Odin Fury began to move regardless.

It seemed almost sheer luck when, not even seconds later, War Iron managed to successfully catch one of Mammut's legs just as Odin Fury's canon blasted towards them, and the Kaiju was caught almost in the air by the blast. It sent the Kaiju reeling, and American Falcon was on top of it before it could even react otherwise. It was screeching in pain, most of its outer skin around the face and one of the shoulders singed off and oozing blue blood and pus into the water beneath it. Steve and Sam both steeled their knees, catching the Kaiju around the chest and digging into the weak side with their strong Jaeger fist to ensure that the monster didn't move. It screeched again as they gripped the injured flesh, but they ignored the cries.

 

"Plasma shield," Steve called, accessing the parts of the Jaeger that would bring out the shield that had been designed especially for American Falcon. It was an energy plate, installed into one of the forearms and designed scatter or distribute any projectiles the Kaiju may send their way. Steve and Sam both continued to read up on the piece as it began to form in their free hand while the Kaiju writhed beneath them, noticing that the entire front piece of the shield was a glowing blue, reminiscent of the plasma cannons but pulsing with a steady energy. Subconsciously, he and Sam agreed on its best use for the moment, and brace their arms hard as the shield finally fully formed and locked into the forearm. With all of its copilots' strength combined, American Falcon drove the edge of the energy shield into the exposed neck of the Kaiju.

 

The result was immediate if not quite as effective as Steve hoped, because the Kaiju's screaming immediately altered to one clearly affected by injured vocals but struggling to portray just what kind of pain. The Kaiju began struggling in earnest now, bucking up against American Falcon to knock it off of itself, but Odin Fury moved forward to catch the legs while Striker Delta seized the one free limb with the help of a heavy cable lasso. American Falcon brought down the shield again, Steve and Sam ignoring the bruising pressure of the force against their arms. When Mammut continued to struggle, they did it once more, and again, until its struggling began to wane and its neck began to bleed blue. With one final but labored push, American Falcon brought down the shield and pierced Mammut's hide enough to catch, and Steve and Sam leaned forward to push all of their Jaeger's weight into the shield to finally make the final cut. Mammut died with one last complaint from its giant maw, its head falling with a thud into the mess below it and its body going stiff with death. American Falcon leaned against its shield for only a brief minute more before retracting the plasma energy and standing unsteadily over Mammut's corpse. Steve let out a deep, exhausted breath before allowing himself to speak.

 

"Kaiju is down. I repeat, Kaiju has been defeated," Steve he said quietly into the headset, regaining the feeling in his muscles and processing the immediate analysis of their battle in his mind. "I want everybody on the Shatterdome floor on arrival for briefing. _No exceptions._ We have a lot to discuss." With that, he exchanged a look with Sam that expressed both his relief and his exasperation, and Sam returned the look. The fight had been hard, they were both exhausted, and it hadn't even been because the Kaiju was difficult. Steve suppressed his frustration over Tony as best as he could through the drift, but the unimpressed look Sam was shooting him made it clear that he hadn't fully done so. Steve offered a sheepish apology through the link and began concentrating on exactly what he wanted to say to Tony. Already a little of everything that had gone wrong was forming, and already Steve was finding there was so much on the list that he could go on for days, railing Tony (and Lt. Colonel Rhodes, how could the man even stand to pilot with Tony?) for his mistakes. Steve vaguely wondered if it would be possible to get the Jaeger benched until he could find a use for it, or until he could wring out some discipline from the impulsive, insolent pilot the Lt. Colonel had agreed to fight with.

 

"It was a good fight," Sam interrupted his thoughts, and Steve startled and turned towards his copilot before realizing just how loud he had allowed himself to become.

 

"In the end," he agreed, deciding to rest on the trip back rather than continue to let his anger stir and boil. There would be plenty of words to share when they got back, he just had to make sure he had an idea of the right ones.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Steve couldn't get out of the drive suit fast enough, practically throwing the helmet to the ground as he finally got it removed and storming towards where the War Iron was letting out its pilots. It was quite a walk over the catwalks overlooking the hangar, but Steve's anger kept him fueled, and he was relieved to find that War Iron was just unloading its pilots as he approached. He had practically flown out of American Falcon to get over to them before they could disappear, leaving Sam behind him to struggle with final shutdown and catching up. Steve did a quick scan as he approached the Conn Pod, looking specifically at Tony and at Lt. Colonel Rhodes. He was relieved to find that at least the Lt. Colonel looked as serious as ever, scowling at Tony as though he knew they were about to get lectured, but Tony was grinning like a madman, slapping his technicians and his copilot on the back as he laughed about their victory. Steve felt his blood boil at the sight, and tried to remind himself to be straightforward and reasonable about his beef with Tony or the man would never take him seriously.

"Stark," Steve spit out through his teeth, clenching his fists again to avoid reaching out to deck him right in the face and barely resisting when the billionaire's attention turned towards him. "What the hell did you think you were doing out there?" he pressed on, moving forwards to press himself into Tony’s space and using his height advantage as best as he could.

"Getting an advantage on your battle, maybe," Tony replied, rolling his eyes and looking to Rhodes as if that were obvious. "You saw what we did out there, right? Rhodey and I saved you about two hours worth of a dull game of robot-monster fisticuffs."

"I saw what you did out there," Steve repeated, "But it looked more to me like you refused to take orders and then put yourself, your _Jaeger_ , and your _copilot_ in danger by failing to follow those orders."

Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You have no idea what any of your orders might have done to prevent what happened out there today. Clearly the Kaiju was smarter than we gave it credit for, and it was something that could have easily happened no matter how we were acting. You're just bitter because Big Man Rogers can't stand to not be in charge, even when he's wrong. What we did was weaken the Kaiju and it ended up pissing it off, which very logically explains why it came after us. There's no other reason, and nothing to say if we'd followed Mommy Stevie's rules that the same thing wouldn't have happened. You just can't know that."

"Having a plan means that we're prepared for these situations rather than the mad scrambling that happened earlier. If you'd have stayed as you were supposed to, it would have been harder for Mammut to get to you. You should know this, Stark."

"And then what? It would have gone after you? Or even after Striker Delta? I'm trying to see how this is beneficial to anybody on the field. Because then one of the _other_ Jaegers would have been on the ground and not nearly as defensible as War Iron. It's built to take a few hits, _Steve_ , it's not going to collapse just because a Kaiju looked at it funny."

"Your Conn Pod was nearly destroyed," Steve finally roared, forgetting his self-made promise to stay calm and reasonable in this argument. There was just something about Tony that really set him off, and he realized for the first time that he and Tony were practically in each others faces, pressing themselves into each others' spaces and trying to force the other to back down through sheer will alone. It was insane, Steve thought, how quickly Tony had caused him to lose reason and to resort to intimidation tactics that didn't even seem to be working. Alarm began to taint his anger, and Steve felt himself automatically backing down despite knowing that he had a point to maintain. It seemed the man was equally if not more stubborn than him even when he was wrong and Steve found himself in need of a different tactic. "We had to do anything we could just to ensure your safety, Stark," he continued more seriously, dropping his tone so that it barely resonated between them but cut the air as it passed from his lips, "You could have died out there, and you could have taken Lt. Colonel Rhodes with you. You're lucky all that got destroyed today was the Kaiju and a little bit of your Jaeger." He didn't move from in Stark's face, but schooled his features into something calmer, something that he could manage again against Tony’s resolute pigheadedness.

"And the samples! Tony, you know you're supposed to leave enough to pull samples!"

Steve and Tony both whirled around simultaneously, watching bewilderedly as a small woman with long brunette hair wearing a lab coat stormed up to Tony and gave him a hard shove. Tony made a noise of surrender and threw his arms up to ward off the woman's attack, but she was clearly more frustrated with him than could be eased by a simple gesture. "You know - " she seethed through her teeth as she continued to swat at his drive suit and push him with just enough force to make him waver, "That we need those samples for your latest round of tests! Every time with you! You can't expect us to keep going on this track if you don't bring us the material we need! Mammut has been totally beaten to death - literally, _literally_ , Stark - and there is nothing left of the body that we can bring in for analysis. It's another opportunity completely wasted."

By this point, Tony had forgotten their fight from moments ago and was laughing at the petite woman and only minimally trying to avoid her flurry of anger. Neither Rhodes nor Sam bothered to hide their own amusement, each chuckling as she made a few jabs that actually had Tony flinching. He let out a few half-hearted _Ow!_ s as she continued to assault him, but she didn't seem to be doing any real damage and Steve personally felt too flabbergasted by the woman's gall and energy to intervene.

"Doctor Foster," Rhodes finally called, and the woman halted her assault and began to adjust her lab jacket and the sweater she was wearing underneath. "Doctor Foster, you remember Lt. Sam Wilson, and I'd like to introduce you to his copilot, Captain Steve Rogers."

Doctor Foster did a double take as though Steve's name was something she should recognize (and he could understand that she might, although ten years was a long time to hang on to lost celebrities), so Steve extended his hand. "It's a pleasure, Doctor Foster," although he didn't admit out loud that it was mostly because he had highly appreciated her assault on Tony.

"It's Jane," she said, almost tersely, but took his hand and gave it a firm shake anyway. "And it's a pleasure to meet you. You've been a great neural study for me and Doctor Ross, I hope you don't mind that we've been poking your brainwaves a little."

She was so blunt about it and so frank about everything else that Steve felt he didn't really mind. There was an honesty and enthusiasm to the woman that made Steve feel a little better about the idea of her rooting through his thoughts, or brainwaves, or whatever she had said, and something about her that said to him that it was all strictly professional even then. Even standing here yelling at Jaeger pilots, Doctor Foster's mind seemed squarely focused on her research. "I'm sorry," he said instead, "But Doctor Ross?"

"Betty. You know, she and Banner are _biologists_." To emphasize _biologists_ , Jane raised her eyebrows and leaned towards Steve a little, sporting a goofy grin. Steve was a little surprised she didn't try nudging him suggestively, but she plowed on with her conversation, almost completely unaware that Steve was trying to open his mouth to ask her just who Betty and Banner actually were. "And of course I mean that in the purely professional way, especially if you ask either one of them. Although these days you can't even mention Bruce without Betty getting all mopey, especially after the accident and after everything that's happened since - "

"I'm very sorry again," Steve interrupted, managing to catch Jane as her ramblings grew quiet for the briefest moment, "But I'm afraid I really don't know who either of these people are, or what you're talking about."

Tony snorted and muttered something under his breath that Steve knew was more condescending than anything else, but he chose to ignore it at the disbelieving look Jane shot him.

"So nobody's told you about Banner?" She turned to stare pointedly to the men standing around Steve, but Tony had suddenly visibly shrunk in on himself and both Rhodes and Sam looked uncomfortable at best. "Don't you think that's something the pilots ought to know about? It was, after all, a major breakthrough in Jaeger-Neural studies even if the original point of the study was lost in the complete fail-"

"It's classified information," Rhodes cut her off suddenly, "That is passed on to pilots as the need comes up. What happened in the Gamma Files is on a strictly need to know basis and not something one should just go around sharing with anybody. While we're sure Captain Rogers is a trustworthy member of our team, announcing sensitive information is not a practice we need to make regular."

It was an incredibly awkward silence that followed, with Jane nervously chewing her lip and looking chagrined while Steve just tried to process what might have happened. He felt a little guilt as he realized he'd been pulling up all the memories he'd received from Sam as a result of his curiosity, but even then his snooping didn't reveal anything. Either Sam was exceptionally well practiced at keeping his memories in check in the drift, or he didn't know anything either.

"Dr. Bruce Banner was a K-Science researcher here at the Los Angeles Shatterdome," Sam said aloud, and Steve realized it echoed with the exact information he had picked out of their neural handshake from earlier regarding the situation. "He, like Stark, was also a pilot although more through simulation and for research here in the Shatterdome than with actual combat. He took part in one such experiment specifically focused on the neural link that rendered him incapable of piloting a Jaeger again."

Steve recognized Sam's curt tone and the cut off of information for what it was, and nodded in understanding. There was a moment's more of silence before he finally turned to Jane, eager to change the subject now weighing thickly in the room. "So what, exactly, do you do with Doctor Ross, Jane?" he asked carefully, and Jane perked at the subject change.

"I work with the breach," she stated, talking more animately with her hands than Steve had ever seen before. "Betty and I have been working with Tony on a way to close the Breach because duh, that's completely the best way to go about ending the problem. I mean, not that I don't think what the Jaeger program is doing isn't fantastic because we need to take down the Kaiju while we have the chance but taking them down one Kaiju at a time isn't _solving_ the problem, you get what I'm saying? What Betty and I are trying to do is access the Kaiju mindset to see if there is a way to shut it down, or if there are at least hints as to how it works and maybe then we can try to figure out how to go about closing it, or at least go about stopping other Kaiju from coming through. It's been a hell of a lot of fun researching the few sample that have come in but I have got to tell you that while I'm really glad you guys are taking care of the problem, you're sure not leaving us with much to work with. It's nearly impossible to glean any sort of usable data from a mooshed Kaiju muscle, if there was really anything to glean from that at all, and I'd really like to get my hands on some of the nervous system instead but it's like I told Tony and it's like I said, we have to have those samples in order to do the research. Right now I've been working on some models instead and I think they're coming along nicely, especially since all I had to work with was what we could gather from this side of the Breach. When you get a moment you should stop by and take a look, Captain, because I think you'd be interested to find that - "

"Jane! You're not overwhelming the others with your brilliance again, are you?" a new voice called from down the ramp, and Steve turned to see Thor standing at the bottom, a brilliant smile on his face. Where Jane's face had been alight with enthusiasm before, she now radiated excitement at the sound of his voice.

"Thor!" she shouted down, "You guys kicked butt today!" She said this as the banged her fists against the metal rails in buzzed energy, nearly jumping up and down in her spot. Then she turned to Steve and the others, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm so sorry, guys, I guess I'll explain some time later. Stop by the lab if you're ever interested in seeing what me and Betty do!" And with that she raced down the ramp to throw herself into Thor's eager embrace. As an afterthought, she turned back and pointed at Tony, shouting, "And Tony! Don't forget next time: samples!" before the two turned back around, arms wrapped around Thor's sizeable waist.

"Jane is an astrophysicist," Sam explained as Thor and Jane disappeared down the walkway with the sour-faced Loki in tow, "If she appeared a little spacey to you. She's our resident expert on the breach, and on interdimensional portals in general, but she's been working very closely with Doctor Ross lately to try to see if there's a connection between the drift and the neural components in Kaiju and the Breach. You'll have to forgive her if she seems a little unfocused, she's actually quite brilliant if not a little obsessed with our resident Norseman."

"On the contrary," Steve couldn't help but laugh, "She seemed quite focused on her study to me, barring her enthusiasm for our fellow copilot. It's nice to see somebody so dedicated to their work, especially if it pushes us closer to ending the Kaiju problem."

"It's all been a true picnic," Tony agreed, though the sarcasm dripping in her voice implied otherwise and there was a harshness in his expression and tone that forced Steve to scowl. Face now sour, Tony turned away from the group and began down the path that would get them off the Conn Pod entry level.

"We're not done here, Stark!" Steve called after him, now frustrated that he'd missed his opportunity to properly lecture the man for his behavior. Tony ignored him, not even skipping a step as he descended away from them.

"Stark is used to leading," Rhodes said firmly, leveling Steve with an even glance that held no malice but also offered no comfort. Sam, wisely, stayed quiet in order to listen to Rhodes's reasoning. "For years we've been the forefront of the battle and he'd gotten used to people listening to us. I'm not saying what happened out there isn't his fault, or our fault, but you have to understand that Tony's a mechanic and a developer first and foremost. He took the opportunity to pilot with me because I needed a partner, and because it was the only safe way to ensure the arc reactor’s engines worked properly and didn't fail on us mid-battle. Everything else has sort of fallen on him, on us - you can imagine the uproar when the son of the world's biggest developer suddenly decided he was a pilot and not J-Tech, so he's been carefully constructing an image since then. Having Captain Steve Rogers here - and let's face it, Captain, you're _still_ famous for your work in the field - having you here just undermines everything he's worked to prove to and about himself."

"I'm not trying to take away his fame or his skill," Steve responded, but all the fight had left him. "I just need him to play it safe with a team.”

"Then you need to let him work his way," Rhodes replied, a little more forcibly, "At least for a little while.The man is good in the field - brilliant in his understanding of his Jaeger and of how the Kaiju function. We work well together because we know what to do when we're out there. Give it a little bit of time and Tony will naturally fix that to work with a team."

Steve sighed, already tired of the fight he hadn't even had yet. "I can't just give up leadership because Tony Stark has authority problems," he finally said.

"And speaking of," Fury interrupted leaning against the nearest entryway and looking like he'd been lingering for a while, "It's customary the Team Lead give a small speech after every victory. I'd say that honor is yours tonight, Captain."

Steve shook his head. "I would hardly call what happened out there leadership, and I would hardly call us a team just yet. What the shatterdome needs is a good reminder that we're depending on these Jaegers and that everybody needs to be taking this threat seriously."

"Don't be ridiculous," Fury cut in, no room for argument, "You're the closest to leadership on the field that this Shatterdome has had since you went under. What's important tonight is that no more lives were lost and another Kaiju was taken down thanks to the eventual team effort of our collected Jaegers. As long as we can keep that up, everything else will fall naturally into place. There's no telling when we'll have to go back out there, but we'll worry about all the details then. Now follow me before I decide you and Sam get to address the crowds for an hour."

"And on that note I think I'm out," Sam said quickly, and quietly maneuvered around the small group to head down the way Tony had gone. Steve moved to stop him but there was hardly any point, and he was halfway down the ramp already. Rhodes behind him gave a halfhearted salute as he moved to follow, leaving Steve standing on the ramp with Fury and wondering when his life had become one big joke.


	7. Chapter 7

It was only a very short speech, but addressing so many attentive people after such a fight and after so many years without practice left Steve feeling exhausted and stretched thin. He decided his evening might be best spent, then, working out his frustrations in a more traditional manner. So he changed his clothes and headed for the Shatterdome's extensive gym, fully intending to work out his stress physically. It was late, later than even Steve was used to, but he needed a cooldown before he could even expect sleep to come to him, and he assumed the gym would be empty and he would be free to relax in peace.

The gym appeared empty as he entered, all the mats bare of their usual sparring matches and spectators. But there was sound in the gym, like a radio playing and the muffled sound of movement underneath that. Steve followed the noises to the darkest corner of the room, where there was a shadow practicing what looked to be his forms but Steve could hardly tell in the darkness. There was the slightest bit of annoyance that he wouldn't have the quiet solitude that he had originally been seeking, but there was something about a good spar in the gym that always made Steve feel better, so he set his gym bag down and moved closer to the other figure.

"Can't say I've ever met another fan of night practice," Steve called over the dull music, cocking his hip and grinning as he watched the other person jump but then relax.

"Best time, no interruptions usually," they replied, and turned around to catch Steve. Twin expressions of shock and disappointment marred their faces as Steve and Tony came face to face for the first time since their argument earlier on the Jaeger ramps, and both fell silent as they analyzed each others' company.

"So I was in the middle of my set," Tony finally said, snapping and clapping his hands together awkwardly as he switched feet.

"Actually," Steve said, because he knew that this opportunity wasn't going to come up again, "I'm glad I caught you. I wanted to continue our discussion about what happened earlier today."

Tony snapped again and turned away, pressing his lips into a thin line. "I actually thought we'd reached the end of that discussion. A great end too, especially since I'd like to be getting back to my forms now, so - "

The man intended to ignore him, Steve realized, as Tony put his back to him and returned to the patterns he had been making before hand. The bokken in his hand made a whoosh as Tony swung it once before moving into his first pose with a visible determination. Steve took a deep breath and steeled himself, making a mental decision to approach this in the same way he'd approached everything else: upfront and honestly. He felt confident even Tony Stark would respond well to that, despite reservations, and so he opened his mouth to continue.

"I'm not trying to take it away."

Tony halted mid-pose. He turned to Steve, his eye twitching comically in irritation as he tried to figure out just what Steve was telling him. Steve remained still, committing fully to being as unconfrontational but firm as he could. Tony stared at him, disbelieving.

"Is that what Rhodey told you?" he asked finally, voice steady but dark. He was still staring, his gaze as unwavering as his voice, waiting patiently for Steve's answer.

This time Steve hesitated. Tony was focused but there was something in his tone, something feral, that implied Steve had missed a very vital part of the story. "Yes," he replied slowly, "But isn't that what you're afraid of? I'm not here to take away your right to pilot, Tony. I just want us to work as a team, and _safely_."

It was a calculated risk, addressing Tony by his first name for the first time, but Steve hoped the risk would benefit him. It was what he wanted, anyway, to be able to treat their entire team with respect, even as friends. Steve felt he had naturally made the connection with everybody but Tony, which Steve mostly blamed on Tony’s pride and recalcitrant nature.

It was a miscalculation, Steve quickly discovered. Tony let out a snort, and looked away with a newly reinforced air of callousness. "As though you even _could_ take that away," he sneered at him, challenge clear in his voice and his eyes. Steve stiffened, trying to feel out for what Tony expected from him in his response. He was expecting Steve to bristle over the blatant disrespect, but there was still something to the issue that kept Tony from revealing the whole truth. It didn’t help Steve, anyway, especially in figuring out the best thing to say to the brunet.

"As the Captain, it is my job to ensure my Jaegers and their pilots perform as safely and efficiently as they can, unhindered by any obstacle. If you're going to be an obstacle for the sake of proving yourself, you're serving not only as one of these hindrances but also as a danger to those around you. I can't let you out there to pilot if you're going to put us all in that kind of danger. I would rather have you working beside me, Tony, you have to believe that. But I can’t do it in good faith until I know for sure," Steve rationed. It was the truth, anyway, and he hoped again that Tony might just accept this and move on. He doubted that might be the case, however, but waited patiently for Tony's inevitable reply anyway.

"The only hindrance War Iron serves, Captain, is as a convenient cog in your delusioned idea of a working machine. We've been taking down Kaiju for years, and of a higher caliber than you remember. We know how it works, and we know how the others work. The only kink in the game is you and your ancient ideals and this notion that you're the best and the only one qualified to lead or to call the shots."

Steve clenched his fist to prevent himself from striking out and seizing Tony up by his collar, but just barely. "If you think yourself so capable, Stark, why don't you be a leader by acting like a real pilot and stop parading around like one?"

"A real pilot, Captain? Like you? I've got more skill on the field than you've got experience, and enough knowledge of both the Jaegers and the Kaiju to back it up. You've got a little military practice and a nap under your belt, unless you want to recall what happened the last time you went out there?"

It was too far, and Tony clearly knew it from the wince he made as soon as the words were out of his mouth. This helped temper Steve's sudden rage though he almost wished it hadn't because he wanted nothing more than to deck the man in front of him across the gym. Instead, he took a deep breath and held Tony's gaze steady as the other man did his best to focus through the sudden shame just barely hidden in his features.

"Prove it," Steve finally gritted through his teeth after a long moment of hard staring, and he grabbed Tony's bokken and thrust it into his grip before stepping back. Tony only nodded and accepted the bokken, waiting for Steve to grab another and return to their mat.

They exchanged a quick bow, but the fire between them burned hard even in the middle of such a show of respect. Steve stood tall and cracked his neck in anticipation, clutching his bokken tightly and lifting it into its raised position. Tony chose instead to position his bokken more forward, holding it out in front of him as though in the middle of a thrust. Both scowled deeper as the sparring match started with just a flicker of movement from both sides. Despite clearly knowing that he had messed up, Tony showed no sign of backing down on their previous issue, and his gaze was dark and determined underneath the furrowed brow. Neither man stepped forward for several long moments despite their twitching muscles, analyzing the other before deciding on the best move. The silence remained thick around them, and the only sounds in the room that of Steve and Tony breathing and the light shuffling as they adjusted their grips and stances.

As though on cue, both men moved forward in a fluid flurry, each aiming for the same area and meeting in the middle with a clacking of wood. The bokken bounced off of each other, sending arms reeling back, but both Steve and Tony returned to the middle in a sweep aimed at each others' arms and chests. The bokken clacked against each other again, but this time Steve managed to draw his wooden sword along the blade of Tony's, catching the blade as it ended and drawing an invisible cut across Tony's wrist and down the side of his chest.

"One," Steve said, pulling back to give them the appropriate distance again before lifting his bokken back up. Tony scowled but nodded, lifting his own and charging forward. Steve easily dodged the thrust of Tony's wooden blade, sidestepping where the brunet approached him quickly and turning his own bokken on Tony's back.

Tony was prepared for this, however, and swiveled his body around just in time to block Steve's attack with the backside of his weapon. The counter caught Steve off guard and he stumbled back, but recovered before Tony could act on the stunt. Steve lifted his blade in time to catch Tony's coming down on his head, and they exchanged a few more blows off of each other, never quite landing any hit other than against the bokken, and never quite gaining the upper hand.

After a particularly frustrating bout of exchanging hits, Steve took a step back to try to reassess how he might land another successful hit, but Tony followed him, blade raised in order to strike another blow. Steve, caught slightly off guard but not unprepared, countered the move almost intuitively by lifting his bokken under Tony's lifted arms. Tony managed to land the hit  against one of Steve's shoulders, but only after Steve managed to draw his blade across Tony's chest from armpit to armpit, underneath Tony's own blade.

"Two," Steve called again, and Tony let out a noise of frustration as they separated. The man was visibly growing angrier with the fight although Steve wasn't sure why; despite his two-nothing lead on the points, Tony had so far proven to be a very worthy sparring partner.

"Okay," Tony finally said, and both men moved in again to continue to try to glance blows off of each other. Steve decided to take initiative on his next move, and thrust forward in an attempt to land a final blow against Tony's shoulder.

Tony, however, managed to counter the hit and danced around Steve as the blond continued to flow forward with the move. He caught Steve's bokken as he moved, pulling the lifted weapon up higher with his own and thrusting Steve's body even further forward. Steve fell to one knee just as Tony's bokken released over the top of his own, and Tony took the opportunity to draw his bokken down across the back of Steve's neck.

"One," the brunet called proudly, and took a few steps back to allow Steve to stand. Steve nodded in acknowledgement of the point, impressed with the agility of the move. He shook off the tingling from the back of his neck and drew his bokken up to his neck, readying for another strike.

The expression on Tony's face hardened again as Steve rose, and he regarded the brunet with alarm. Tony’s expression was more determined now than it had been, almost as though the other man had found his concentration and his ability. Steve realized that it may be the time to take the spar much more seriously, and lifted his bokken just a little higher in response to Tony's increased focus. Steve could almost see as the adrenaline kick in the for the other man, and was actually caught off guard when Tony charged again. Their bokken caught each other and both men were drawn closer together, their fists nearly touching as their blades struck and slide against each other. Steve felt his muscles strain as Tony let out a grunt of concentration, pushing just a little harder than Steve anticipated and managing to force Steve's bokken back down.

Steve felt the blade of Tony's weapon slide against his shoulder as their arms came down, and he stepped back again as Tony let out a proud, "Two. Spar point."

Steve nodded, and focused on how he might try to finish the match. They were evenly skilled, or if not evenly skilled then equally determined, but Steve knew he needed the advantage in order to keep his leadership. The sparring match had become something like fun for him, but there was still the underlying tone of proving his ability to the man who didn't seem to believe in the older techniques. It seemed petty even now in the middle of the spar, but Steve also felt he had to win in order to get his point across. He knew that Tony had the same intention, especially since Steve had questioned his ability as a pilot. If Steve hadn't been determined to make his own point, he probably would have let Tony have the match simply because he'd been so impressed with Tony's sparring skills.

Tony came at him one last time, swinging his blade in a distracting arc before bringing it around Steve's side to try to catch him in the rib cage. Steve was fortunately not to be confused, and managed to avoid the circling bokken while turning around Tony. He swiped at the smaller man with his own bokken, just barely missing Tony's neck as the man's forward momentum allowed him to get in low and swing under Steve's own arcing swing. Steve remained undeterred, however, and continued the arc around, drawing the bokken around in a momentum-driven swing and stopping it just millimeters away from Tony's neck on the opposite side. He drew it slightly in the motion of slicing it just as Tony froze, expression dark.

"Three," Steve said, lowering his bokken from against Tony's muscles and allowing himself to take a step back. He let out a deep breath, staring at the man underneath him and trying to figure out just what had passed with them. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when Tony kicked out his legs and sent Steve sprawling, and he climbed over the larger man and rested his own bokken where Steve's had previously been against him.

Tony smirked as Steve let out a grunt and shoved the bokken away. "Three all," he said haughtily, but Steve cut him off with a noise of protest.

"You cannot possibly think I'm going to grant you that point, Stark," he said, "Besides how completely illegal it was, the match was over."

Tony frowned, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. He stood quickly and backed away, giving Steve enough space to get off his back and shoot him a glare, but he easily returned it. "You of all people," he almost whispered, "Should know that you can never assume something is over. And I never consider something as ridiculous as illegal when it comes to my training. You never what what kind of skill you're going to need on the field, and you never know what you're going to be willing to do. You should always be prepared to do whatever it takes to survive, Captain, even on the mat."

Steve moved immediately to reply but found himself at a loss for words. Tony's words rang familiar in his head, and he found himself looking at an entirely different brunet, in a different time. Bucky Barnes suddenly stood before him, grinning defiantly and reminding him that the brass didn't always know what was best, but the image just as easily cut to Bucky disappearing through a long destroyed hatch and never reappearing. Steve gave his head a very slight shake and refocused, and the image returned to a scowling Tony.

"It was a smart move, Stark," he conceded, because he couldn't fault Tony for the gall to pull the move, "But there's a difference between sparring and the field," In the field everything was real, and everything meant life or death. You could pretend to know it and you could practice scenarios until the day you died but they didn't mean a thing if you couldn't pull the same moves out in the real world, when they actually meant the difference between living or not. It occurred to Steve that Tony probably understood this, and that was why he acted the way he did. The thought was sobering, that Tony - like Bucky - might understand the field better than Steve himself and simply translated that into loud, defiant behavior. But it wasn't even necessarily true, and Tony's mocking expression didn't encourage the thought.

"And you should probably remember that this is a different time, Cap," he said, cutting off Steve's chance to think on it further. "You can't just come in here like you know everything. The Jaeger program and everything in it has changed since you were in it, old man."

"It's not all new and shiny like you, Tony. Sure your Jaeger is new and some of the capabilities and teams are new but the same basic principles stand. And those involve working as a team, with a set plan. You needed me out there today, and you need leadership here at the Shatterdome. I meant it when I said I wasn't going to try to take away your right to pilot, but you can be damned sure we're going to run this ship my way."

This time Tony did not react negatively to his first name, but he still adopted a condescending grin before speaking. "I hate to break it to you, but those aren't quite the same principles I run off of. Sure, your heart's in the right place but you're running an awfully stiff ship there."

"Maybe you're just not compatible," Steve snapped, deploring Tony's hateful grin. "Maybe we're just not drift or team compatible. Maybe you're keeping others from those principles," he reemphasized, and found even as he said it that he regretted the act. He'd meant that Tony was forcing them to constantly reevaluate their own principles in order to ad lib something that worked with Tony, but even to Steve it sounded more like a derision of Tony's abilities as a pilot and as Rhodes's copilot. Rhodes had warned him that the subject was sensitive, and Steve had consciously chosen to ignore the warning in favor of a cheap jab at Tony's pride.

Tony was quiet, and Steve looked up at him to see a new expression on his face, something that resembled hurt but was quickly covered with a sneer worse than the first. "We were never compatible," he said, "You can't just force people to work with you, Captain Rogers. I'm just as good as any of your pilots strapped down by your idiotic rules and plans. I know how to _improvise_ and I've stopped enough Kaiju to know it works. We don't have to be compatible for me to know that."

Tony stood for a moment glaring at Steve, before giving his head a light shake and moving to gather his belongings. Steve struggled to find the words to say to him, but nothing came to mind that seemed appropriate. He'd messed up with Tony, he knew, and even when he knew in his heart that Tony was right. Tony eventually got tired of Steve looking for the right words, so he gathered the last of his things and paused in the doorway. "Enjoy your workout," he muttered, and disappeared through the closing metal door.

"Tony..." Steve called, but the man didn't hear him, and there still weren't words for his regret. He let out a sigh, suddenly not in the mood to work out, either. His sparring with Tony had gotten his blood pumping and his mind clear, but everything that had conspired between them after weighed more heavily on him now than his troubles earlier. He couldn't let go that Tony had been right and he'd been pushed to angry words, and now that it had been addressed, Steve couldn't help but think of Bucky and of his sacrifice in the name of rescuing lives. Steve sighed as he gathered his own things, and left the gym in order to contemplate everything he'd just discovered in the solace of his own room.


	8. Chapter 8

A week passed with no activity, though Steve could still feel the tension within the Shatterdome, and he still felt the bitterness of his fight with Tony. Days passed where he did little else but sulk in his room or in the gyms, practicing his forms alone and doing his best not to think on Tony's words. They cut through him like a sharp knife every time he allowed himself to think about Tony's expression and about Bucky's sacrifice. It made him sick that the thought had never occurred to him, that he might have misread Tony's intentions even despite Rhodes's warnings.

The hardest part was realizing that he did in fact understand Tony's reasoning. Even if he couldn't agree with the man's execution, it was easier now to see where Tony was coming from, and it was easier to see after speaking with Rhodes why the man was acting like he was. Suddenly all of Tony's strange behaviors were becoming understandable to Steve and he just didn't know what to do with the information. It actually hurt a little, to know how wrong he might have been about Tony, but there was little Steve felt he could do to relay this new understanding to the man. Still, he felt like he owed it to Tony and to Bucky to make sure he was more accepting of the choices of others. Bucky had chosen to make the sacrifice for him ten years ago, making the same decisions Tony had made while they were out on the battlefield the previous week, and Steve had ignored the similarities to pick instead on the eccentricities that made up Tony's mask for himself. And now he knew it, and could act on it.

There was a sudden blaring from his phone, and Steve nearly jumped as it went off on his desk. He looked to the small device, surprised to see it ringing. There hadn't been a phone call for him since he'd woken up, understandable since most of his friends were long gone anyway. And they didn't call when there was a Kaiju attack because it didn't make any sense to call everybody on their cell phones. There was an alarm for that, anyway, so Steve pondered what the issue might be from a number he didn't recognize.

"Captain Rogers," he said into the phone as he answered it, mentally going through the numbers he knew to see if maybe he did recognize the person calling.

"Rogers!" Tony Stark nearly shouted from the other end of the line, and Steve mentally cursed his luck. Of course the man would call right when Steve was having strange revelations about him. Despite knowing that he would have to eventually apologize to the man, Steve wasn't quite ready to face Tony's usually arrogant attitude and he wasn't ready to confront Tony about his new understanding. Still, the billionaire was calling him and Steve could only hope it was for some reason other than to meet face to face.

"Stark, how did you even get my number?" he asked cautiously, because he knew for a fact that he hadn't specifically given anybody here his cell, and he had assumed Marshall Fury hadn't gone giving it out to everybody, either. Besides, they had not received any sort of calling list for the other pilots that Steve knew of.

"I looked your digits up," Tony said easily, inciting a sigh from Steve, "You know, in the records they keep here on file. Speaking of, I need to make note to Nick that the security on the Class 5 files was a little weak, thanks for reminding me - "

"What are you calling about, Stark?" Steve prompted, as despite his earlier time whiled away musing, he didn't have a lot of time to spare on rambling conversations. Tony would only be calling for an important reason, one Steve trusted was worth hacking internationally classified case files to impart. He also trusted it meant he could deal with the issue and then move on without having to interact too closely with Stark.

"Ah, I knew you'd ask that. There's a very important meeting in the laboratories. Top secret research and all that, but I need all the pilots down here, pronto. And that includes your patriotic buns."

Tony had spent the time locked away in the labs, probably with Doctors Ross and Foster, and if the three were calling all the pilots that meant there had been a major breakthrough. Steve very patiently ignored his nickname and offered his affirmative despite the war waging within him. There were things he needed to tell Tony, but he would really rather not have to. Steve closed the phone without so much as a goodbye (because even he if owed him an apology, Stark deserved it, he thought with a huff) and threw on more appropriate clothes for working with his teammates.

He headed down the residency hallways and into the laboratory wings, where he found Tony's labs and let himself in quietly. There was a small crowd gathered, mostly consisting of the team of pilots that Steve had worked with during the last Jaeger battle, and a number of J-Tech specialists, including Phil and Maria. Marshall Fury was standing near the front, and Steve spotted Sam standing near him. He nodded as Sam turned to catch his eye and forced his way up to his partner.

"Good, everybody's here!" Tony shouted as Steve made his way to the front of the small crowd with as much dignity as he could. He scowled at Tony as the man clapped his hands together and headed for the small console that stood between where Jane and Betty were standing at their desks and the small collection of pilots grouped together in the only empty spaces of the labs. Tony flipped a few switches and a hologram opened up, revealing a topography that Steve easily recognized as the Breach.

"So you know how we've been down here all week trying to finish up the last of our calculations, right?" Tony continued before anybody could ask any questions about the image before them. He didn't leave time for an answer again, plowing ahead while Jane and Betty watched from the background. Steve took a moment to study the women behind Tony, as they both watched him with interest. There was an air of smugness between the two women that seemed more Tony’s speed, but it only made Steve all the more curious about this very important find. "So we've been studying the Breach, and how it is that the Kaiju are able to come through the Breach while we're unable to even touch it without suffering electroshock therapy of the worst degree." The latter case had been something that even Steve remembered, when a hopeful team out of Hong Kong had ventured to the Breach in what was supposed to be a last ditch effort to destroy it before any more Kaiju could come forward. They'd been carrying a number of weapons on them, but it didn't matter as they attempted to break the Breach and were only met with a series of electric shocks so serious everything within the Jaegers had been fried instantly. It had been a long and tragic memorial for the fallen pilots, especially since they had been of the first pilots to fall and had done so in search of a better solution. Their Jaegers had been left on the ocean floor and their legacy had been the addition of insulation that had protected Steve from electrocution ten years ago.

"Well," Tony continued, oblivious to Steve's quiet meditation, "After combining all of our studies together, we finally think we may have figured out how the damn thing works. Doctor Ross, why don't you explain what you've found?"

Doctor Betty Ross was a beautiful woman, tall and elegant in her mannerisms and physique. She had dark hair that was considerably better kept than Jane's, and despite working with the entrails of dead Kaiju all day, her business suit was immaculate. There was a dirty lab coat covered in grease, grime, and Kaiju Blue hanging over the chair at which she stood, so Steve assumed it belonged to her and protected her daily wardrobe from her work, but it still seemed was an impressive feat. She smiled as she began speaking, detailing her side of their joint research. "I've had the luxury of studying the heads of one of the Kaiju recently, and was able to ascertain a number of anatomical anomalies of which we were previously unsure." She clicked a button on the remote that Steve had previously not spotted in her hand, and a nearby screen lit up with data that scrolled past at alarming rates. Steve was finally able to identify the image on the screen, which was the head of a Kaiju he had seen War Iron take down on the big screens during his recovery. The image was rotating and taking pieces away , revealing underneath different layers of the Kaiju anatomy."We identified long ago that a Kaiju must have two brains in order to operate a body as large as its own. We've so far been able to identify what should have been the brains in all of our Kaiju researched, but were unable to get our hands on one before it was destroyed by the ammonia. One of our most recent acquisitions was brought in quickly enough that I was able to get a chemical analysis of the contents of the Kaiju's mind before it was destroyed by the ammonia, and I was frankly shocked by what I found. Chemical analysis implies that the second brain is indeed used to aid the Kaiju in basic biological functions and helps it to operate its massive body, but there's another, more important role. Original readings were able to pick up large amounts of potassium, sodium, and chlorine, which wouldn't normally wouldn't be strange because those are the chemicals used to sense nerve synapses. Even cross dimensionally, this seems to be the case, but the amounts found - even after the chlorine reserves had already largely reacted with the ammonia - were enough to cause a reaction that would send electrical signals at least a mile."

While she spoke, a number of images passed on the slide detailing the process Doctor Ross was describing. Steve chose to watch rather than try to listen, better understanding the pictures than the science behind them. In the images, there were a number of lights being illustrated in the Kaiju's head, signalling the chemical processes Doctor Ross explained and then revealing their potential.

"The question Betty and I had after discovering this," Jane cut in as Doctor Ross finished her presentation, "Is what is that sort of signal used for? So we turned to the studies done around the Breach and around the areas where the Kaiju have been found and we've discovered the traces of these signals in the oceans. We're thinking it might be some sort of communicative device for the Kaiju, even though we've only ever seen one at a time. Still, they're all coming from the same place so it's natural they would interact with _something_ if not with each other. We then went back and restudied the signals found specifically around the Breach to see if there were any communications that were heading into the other side." Jane looked excited as she explained their theory, her hands waving around as she spoke and her face lighting up with each newly described discovery.  "Turns out," she continued, and finally stilled her hands in order to hold them up as though demonstrating physical, "We were picking up additional signals that we didn't originally identify. The Kaiju aren't just communicating with _each other_ , they're communicating with the Breach itself. After we realized that, it became an easy study to try to identify the purpose of this two-way with the Breach and we think we finally have it. Do you know why it has been impossible for us to destroy the connection between the two dimensions?"

Jane paused, but didn't really wait long enough for anybody to make any guesses. Thor looked like he might say something (and Steve assumed it was just for the sake of looking like he was paying attention to his girlfriend), but quickly stopped himself before Jane kept explaining. "All the efforts we've made to reach the Breach and to destroy it have been direct physical confrontations. But what we're dealing with instead is a door, an access point that can only be accessed by somebody who knows the password. And the password for getting in is that little electrical signal that we've finally found in the Kaiju."

There was vague understanding in the room, Steve noticed as he scanned faces, but no real comprehension. Steve himself felt like he could understand the concept, but Marshall Fury seemed like he really understood, and stepped forward to look at the visual presentation that Doctor Ross had provided, and then to give Jane a long, hard look.

"And what does this mean for us, Doctor? Just how are we supposed to _open the door_?"

"I can explain that," Tony called from the side, where he had moved while the women were presenting. He stepped forward, making a show of moving around the people to get to Marshall Fury, and stopped in front of Doctor Ross's screens. Tony waited for a moment next to Betty, giving her an awkward stare until she finally startled and set the remote in her hand down on the nearest desk. Tony offered her one more awkward glance and a hasty thanks before picking up the remote and hit the button to another presentation. There was suddenly a small, shrill ringing in the room and Steve almost moved to cover his ears before the noise stopped, leaving the room feeling oddly silent and his ears ringing in its wake. "I've replicated the ping," Tony said, gesturing towards the screen, "I can recreate the sound necessary to open the gate using the arc reactor technology. We've never tried to access the Breach using the technology because we didn't know that's what we needed to do. The arc reactor that sits in War Iron is close but not quite right but I know that I can modify one that's in one of the prototypes to work for this. Afterwards we can send whatever kind of nuclear or explosive power you want to send in through the portal because the door will be open and we can just throw it in without any problems. Kind of a great plan, now that we know that this is how the Breach works, actually."


	9. Chapter 9

There was silence in the room as those present thought about what the three scientists had explained, and what they were proposing. To Steve it seemed feasible, but there was so little about the actual mechanics that he actually understood that he knew he was going to have to take their word for it. Still, what they had said that he understood made sense, so Steve felt himself more comfortable with the plan that he originally thought he might considering how much of it they owed to Tony. He did a quick survey of the room to see if he could quickly ascertain how everybody else was feeling about the proposal, surveying the faces around them. Sam was nodding, and it occurred to Steve that he would have a better understanding than Steve himself because of his background in J-Tech.

Rhodey's face was schooled into something unreadable, but Steve also knew that the man piloted a Jaeger alongside Tony and therefore had to have a basic knowledge of how his mind worked and of everything Tony studied. Even if the man couldn't put it together himself, he had regular direct access to Tony's mind to do so. Natasha and Clint were a little more of a surprise, but both of their faces were neutral. Steve assumed that like him, they were taking in the information and trying to sort it into terms and knowledge they could interpret effectively. If Steve had learned anything about the pair, it was that they processed considerably more information than they ever let on. They were a lot like Marshall Fury and his two hands, Maria and Phil, but Steve had known that about those three for a long time. They are standing towards the back, also looking mostly expressionless, but like Clint and Natasha they were definitely absorbing more than they seemed.

Steve felt a little better when he caught sight of Thor's face. As far as Steve could tell, the man was intelligent and had a scary understanding of his own Jaeger and of battle strategy on the field, but looked as lost as Steve in terms of whatever the new plan seemed to be. Like Steve, Thor seemed to have a lot of questions but didn't seem sure whether or not he really wanted to ask them, mostly because he probably had a basic enough understanding of the idea and knew anything more complicated might just make it too complex for him. Steve looked to Thor's brother to see if the man was suffering the same issue (because he hadn't interacted much with Loki, even though the man seemed to be much like his brother in mindset if not in physical attributes), but the man was scowling as though he were very uncomfortable with the plan. Steve almost asked him what he thought out loud, but it seemed the time for questions had come up and the room was suddenly a flurry of curious voices.

"How is the arc reactor going to work like that?"

"How do you intend to get into the Breach to deliver the signal?"

"What were your intentions with the bomb?"

"How many Jaegers are you going to need for this?"

"How do you actually intend to use the bomb to destroy the Breach?"

Tony held up his hands, laughing as all the questions came in from different angles. Steve crossed his arms as Tony implored them to ask their questions one at a time, explaining that he would go into further detail to try to assuage some of the easier ones. Like Steve, however, he caught sight of Loki's expression and paused. "What's on your mind, Loki? Looking a little blue in the face over there, buddy."

Loki flushed at being called out for his expression, but schooled it quickly as the others turned to look at him.

"Doesn't this seem a bit extreme?" he asked, "Seeking to destroy the Breach and the Kaiju even before we've had the chance to do any proper research on them or tried to understand them better?"

"We've had years to do that sort of research," Betty replied before Tony could speak, "And we have not been able to come up with anything useful in all that time. The Kaiju body is too corrosive and the nature of the Kaiju themselves is too destructive. If we could come up with a safe or efficient way to restrain a live Kaiju to study it might be a different story, but too many lives are at stake and they just do too much destruction whenever they are present. Based on all the research, however, they don't seemed to be inclined towards anything besides wreaking as much havoc as they can. In this case, there seems to be little we could actually benefit from the Kaiju if we benefitted at all from understanding them further. Our best option now has become this chance to close the Breach and destroy their ability to enter our dimension for good."

"It just seems like a waste," Loki mused, "When we have such an interesting and powerful species that has been practically delivered to our front door and we are incapable of studying them for any valuable information. Why not find use for them? Why not look harder for a way to make them allies rather than enemies, or find a way control them so that we can use their size and their strength for good? Is not this a better idea than simply destroying them because we may have been misunderstanding them this whole time? Is it not the more scientific approach to keep asking questions, rather than giving up and seeking to destroy what we cannot comprehend?"

Jane huffed behind Betty, who seemed hurt by the accusation. "We're just trying to get out of this war with as few damages as possible, Loki. Weren't you listening to Betty? We've been fighting the Kaiju for years. We just want to get out of this alive."

Loki let out a puff of air that sounded like a laugh of disbelief. "And yet what you seek is a genocide of a species you do not understand."

"We're not trying to kill off a species," Jane replied, too curtly. She was moving towards Loki, but Tony stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and a forced laugh.

"And that seems like a good place for a more detailed explanation regarding our actual plan," he said, and pat Jane harder on the shoulder to move her from in front of their screens. Jane did so but only after holding her glare at Loki for a moment more. Betty also moved, having recovered from her temporary shock. She pulled up another display on the computers, this time one which revealed various Jaeger designs that highlighted and focused on specific pieces of the Jaegers on display.

The first Jaeger displayed was not one Steve recognized, but Tony moved over to it and began gesturing to the different glowing pieces. "The Jaeger I've designed is one whose specific function is to allow for diversity with the arc reactor. In order to achieve the signal we need in order to access the Breach, we need an arc reactor that works at the same kind of power level created within the cranial cavity of the Kaiju. This new reactor isn't as powerful as previous versions but can reach that pitch. I've tested it on a smaller scale - " and with this, Tony pulled out a small hand-held device that he activated with a trigger on the back. If Steve had not been paying so close attention he might have mistaken the demonstration for a failure, but there was suddenly a faint buzzing ring in the room that almost hurt his ears with the pitch. Tony turned it off almost immediately, and put the small device away. "But at that scale it isn't even comparable to the strength of the Kaiju's device. If I make it the size of a normal core, however, we should have the signal strength to boost it into the necessary portals." Tony returned to the screens Betty was managing and gestured to the arc reactor that was on display in the chest. It looked just like the small handheld device Tony had put down, but Steve knew it would be about the size of the arc reactor in War Iron and the cores of the other Jaegers.  Steve didn't know if the arc reactor's usual size would actually make the signal strong enough for it to do what it needed to do, but he trusted that Tony would ensure it did, and Tony seemed confident enough in that on his own.

"Anyway, the plan is for Rhodey and me to take this baby down to the Breach and activate it, opening the usual portal and giving us direct access to the other side, where we will hopefully find some sort of opening mechanism. The goal is to locate this mechanism, or whatever is operating the opening and closing of that portal, and target it to be destroyed. That way we're not meddling too much or too long an a dimension that we don't understand, and we're destroying the access that they have to our world. That's where the rest of you come in. We'll need a team to get to the Breach, and after that we'll need to make sure we don't let any Kaiju come through the opening in the Breach while we're working on closing it. I'm hoping to utilize every team prepared for field work, since we don't know what's on the other side and I'd rather not lose anybody during this mission, including those of us going into the portal. Which I’m hoping to include me and Rhodey, and Odin Fury."

Tony turned to Thor and Loki and gave them a confident grin. He moved forward in his slideshow, now revealing the obvious plans of the Odin Fury Jaeger system. There was an attachment that was blinking, however, showing a radioactive symbol painted onto a large protrusion that strapped or welded onto the Jaeger. "I chose you guys because you have the biggest, baddest Jaeger outside of War Iron, and you've got the best long range capability. We'll need to send in a Jaeger who can hold its own against unknown forces and I know Odin Fury is capable of doing just that. This way you won't have to venture too far into the portal and risk getting stuck over there while War Iron Mark II is busy keeping the gate open. Plus Loki, you get your chance to ensure none of those _poor Kaiju_ get hurt while we're closing the gate.

"It's... more acceptable," Loki replied with a sneer, but his arms remained crossed tightly over his chest and he was scowling heavily at Tony's mocking tone. Steve didn't agree with Loki's earlier assessment and was still reeling from Loki's criticism of Betty's research, but he understood the man's irritation and hesitance on the matter.

"Tony, how long will it take to have your new Jaeger ready?" he asked quickly, before Tony could poke fun at Loki any more. Tony turned his attention towards Steve, and if he could have looked any more smug, he might have.

"It's an easy build with only a few minor specifications. Given the worst circumstances, I would say just under a month of preparation for construction and to ensure Rhodey and I are going to be comfortable piloting it."

Steve nodded. "Then that's an easy month that we have time to do more research. Loki, feel free to use that time to get in what you can and perhaps come up with an alternative solution. If you can come up with something viable in that time frame, we’ll consider it."

There was a dark look that crossed Loki's face as Steve made the suggestion, something that told Steve the man had been up to something, but he couldn't put his finger on why or even what it could be. Steve shook off his discomfort and looked to Betty and Jane instead. "Doctors, if we could have you looking into the Breach as closely as you are able until this time. Right now the goal is to gather as much information as you can about the area surrounding it so that we can set the battleground in our strategy meetings, and to try to assess the energy readings coming from the Breach itself. If we can get even the slightest idea into what we're looking at on the other side, it would help us immensely in the upcoming battle.

Both ladies nodded, more than willing to do their part, and those who were not part of the lab began gathering their notes and belongings in closure of the meeting. Tony had answered most of their questions, and it was now just a matter of getting prepared for what they suspected and hoped would be the final battle of the Kaiju War.

"I have one more question," Fury called over the increasing noise of the dispersing crowd, and everybody paused to turn to him and listen. "Just how feasible do you think this plan of yours is, Stark?" he asked quietly. Normally, Steve might have taken that as a sign of disapproval, but there was a grin on Fury's face and Tony easily matched it when he heard the question. He looked eager to answer, but he was very quickly cut off.

The alarms went off so suddenly that everybody in the room jumped as soon as the red lights began flashing. Immediately there was a flurry of movement within the room, pilots scrambling to get to their Jaegers while everybody else struggled to get to their own posts. The labs were a long way from the hangar of the Shatterdome, and so Steve scrambled to try to get his hands on a cart so that the teams could move more quickly to try to get into their Jaegers in a timely manner. He finally managed to grab one that would hold the eight of them, and pulled up beside the running teams so that they could jump in. Sam joined him in the front and they were finally to the hangar in a matter of moments. Steve was grateful, since every moment that they spent struggling to put the four teams into the Jaegers meant that the Kaiju drew closer to the cities. It almost seemed silly to have them all gathered at the other end of the Shatterdome grinning like idiots as they prepared for battle but there was a lightness to the meeting that couldn’t be sobered. If they could pull off Tony's plan as well as Tony was confident they could, it could mean the end of the Kaiju attacks on the planet. Even though he cursed their slow recovery from their meeting, Steve couldn't help but feel as though it was worth it if it meant they had this plan solid.

He tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling tingling in the back of his mind at Loki's objections during the entirety of Tony's explanations, putting it off as the man's constant need to be scowling at something, because Steve had not seen any reason to believe otherwise. Loki's halfhearted attempts to convince them that the Kaiju were controllable were hardly something Steve felt he needed to worry about at a time like this, and even if there were the concern, the closing of the portal, a unanimous decision with the exception of Loki, would prevent it from ever becoming an issue anyway. Steve tried to focus instead on getting into his drive suit and preparing his mind for the neural handshake. Being in the drift would calm him, and always seemed to help Steve focus on the task at hand rather than all the things he was concerned with outside the Jaeger.

"Seemed a little weird, all of Loki's talk about controlling the Kaiju and using them for our own purposes," Sam remarked quietly as they stepped onto their conn pod, and Steve was alarmed to hear just how much Sam's thoughts echoed his own sentiment. He nodded silently as they put on their helmets and began the countdown to the mental handshake.

 _I'm a little worried about it,_ Sam confessed within the confines of the drift as soon as they were connected. Steve felt the thought easily, having quickly found his peace along their drift path in order to continue the conversation before the team of Jaegers went out onto the field. He didn't want the idea clouding either of their judgement.

 _There's not much we can do except be aware of his feelings,_ Steve offered back, prepping himself and joining Sam in their usual startup ritual, _And besides, this will hopefully be one of our last Kaiju if everything goes smoothly after. There's little even Loki can do about his decision at this point._

  _You had better hope you're right,_ Sam sighed into their connection, and Steve laughed at him as their communications began to start up with the other Jaegers.

"Jaeger formation Alpha-Striker-Two-Two-Eight," Steve called over their communications as the last of the four-Jaeger team came online. Alpha-Striker-228 was a relatively simple tactic that Steve had written out with Rhodes and Natasha. He'd discussed it in detail with the others  with the exception of Tony, who had heard about the list of tactics Steve had designed with his teammates through Rhodes. The Lt. Colonel had assured Steve that they were solid tactics even by Stark standards, and had promised he would do his best to encourage Tony to stick to them. Worst came to worst, there were contingency plans which Steve and Rhodes had cooked up together in case Tony decided to take Rhodes and their Jaeger for a spin on the more rebellious side. Steve admired that the man could create such a plan, but hoped that there would be no use for it. AS228 was solid, and would get them through the Category Five whose stats were slowly appearing on his screen.

"Cat-5's got electric tentacles," Clint called over the comms, relaying the information he was receiving from LOCCENT as well as the analysis that Striker Delta was providing for him. Striker Delta had been sent ahead because of its speed and agility in order to try to get definite readings on the Kaiju before the others arrived. Like their last attempt, the scouting Striker Delta was intended to do was from a distance, where it could safely wait for the others to arrive and where it could join the fray once there was something else for the Kaiju to focus on.

"Affirmative, the energy readings are picking that up. Anything else we should know about?” Rhodes called back over the comms. There was a faint _It's always tentacles_ over the static of Rhodes's headset where Tony had muted his own, but Steve was surprised to find that this seemed to be the most he was going to get from Tony. War Iron running alongside the American Falcon as soon as they landed, and it took mental prompting from Sam not to turn the American Falcon's head to share Steve's shock with the other Jaeger. Instead, Steve focused on the three Jaegers running alongside each other, Odin Fury on his right and War Iron on his left while American Falcon followed Striker Delta's direct lead. They caught up to the other Jaeger quickly, stopping where the smallest of the Jaegers was paused, arm up and radar equipment out.

"It dove about a minute ago," Natasha relayed for them, "And we are running time and monitoring its movements with the heat signature. Resurfacing estimated in thirty seconds, codename Raiden."

"Then prepare yourselves," Steve called back, "And let's drop this Kaiju quickly."

 


	10. Chapter 10

It was like a dream come true, watching the others work like the well-oiled machine Steve knew they could be. Upon their arrival to the site, the team of four split into their designations and began attacking the Kaiju, Raiden, from all four sides. Alpha-Striker-228 had been the original plan for their last Kaiju but had been modified to best fit the team and its strengths, and could be modified further for handling any unfamiliar Kaiju. Raiden was proving to be one of these unfamiliar Kaiju, and as a Category Five was much more difficult. The electric tentacles Clint had brought to their attention earlier were in actuality two monstrous antennae, which protruded from Raiden's head grotesquely with peeling skin and scorch marks all down Raiden's face. The Kaiju seemed to have good control over the two antennae, however, swinging them at whichever Jaeger drew too near.

Striker Delta was close range and seemed to be doing fine on its own, but that was mostly because any damage the small Jaeger successfully dealt was blamed on the Jaeger standing closest to the Kaiju's line of vision. It was a comfort to Steve, knowing that the team could work together when they needed to, and worked together well. It was as though Fury's final question was answering itself: they were clearly capable of performing whatever they needed to do to get a job done, and if they moved this smoothly they were likely to succeed at whatever task they took upon themselves.

"War Iron, refocus energy on the antennae, see if you can get them removed before they start doing any real damage," Steve called, preparing the team for their next round of strategy once he felt they had comfortably assessed Raiden's abilities and gotten a feel for the Kaiju and for themselves. "Odin Fury, you're focusing on the head with us. We're keeping attention off of Striker Delta, who's on removal duty as soon as those antennae are safe to be handled. If you see an opportunity for take down, announce and proceed. I want this Kaiju out as quickly as possible."

The affirmatives only took a second before the collection of Jaegers began moving forward. Striker Delta made another agile dive that put it back behind Raiden even before the Kaiju could process where the Jaeger had gone. It whipped around in search of the rogue Jaeger, but Striker Delta had already released a weapon system Steve had not yet had the pleasure of witnessing. They were two small daggers that unleashed from just above the Jaeger's wrist, and as they released they sparked blue with energy. Striker Delta immediately went to work catching the weak points in Raiden's hide with the daggers, and even from their distance, Steve could see the charges rippling the thick skin. He knew from studying the Jaegers that the daggers could also be shot from their holsters, serving both as projectiles and as grapplers, which could be attached to cable from Striker Delta. Steve had never seen the application of this technique, but it seemed superfluous in the wake of Striker's Delta's astounding success staying out of the way of Raiden's rage. Steve was reminded of the advances in Jaeger technology with every sweeping dive and imperceivable puncture Striker Delta was able to maneuver, displaying the Jaeger's true prowess in the field.

Raiden and Steve were both drawn from the small Jaeger's assault when a roar tore through the air, and Sam helped Steve turn American Falcon so they could find the source. To Steve's surprise there was not another Kaiju emerging, but rather a visible energy now radiating from Odin Fury.

"That's Mjolnir," Sam explained, "It's a mix of Odin Fury's two main abilities, and named for the unstoppable force it applies when all the energy you're seeing gathered around that hammer structure is sent into its target."

Steve had read about Odin Fury' most impressive ability but like Striker Delta's performance, hadn't seen it yet. All the energy that Odin Fury usually maintained in its fists was concentrated on one side of the Jaeger, wielding what looked to be a large plasma hammer. Electricity swirled along the outside of the hammer, dancing around what looked to be a concentrated blizzard on the interior that was slowly creating a more solid weapon out of ice. The Jaeger lifted the weapon as it became more solid and, making sure not to strike American Falcon, unleashed it on Raiden.

Steve and Sam just barely managed to turn their own Jaeger in time to watch the plasma weapon whip past them and slam into Raiden's jaw, sending the Kaiju sprawling into the water. It roared in response, lifting itself up on its arms to issue a verbal threat towards its attacker, but already Odin Fury was rushing past to meet the Kaiju head on. The Jaeger reached forward and picked up the ice weapon from where it had fallen and discharged all its energy, beginning to recharge it as soon as it was in the Jaeger's hand. Raiden took another blow directly to the face and was sent backwards once again, roaring in anger as it skidded across the ocean floor. Striker Delta managed to move just in time to get out of the way of the Kaiju's projection, the Jaeger curving gracefully as it maneuvered to the side.

The warming up of War Iron's repulsor blasts was a little more familiar, and Steve and Sam were able to watch without turning as both of War Iron's palms lit up and blasted Raiden across the top of its head. One of the antennae sizzled as it was struck, attempting to counter the repulsor blast with Raiden's own electricity, but there was a clear scar where War Iron had successfully hit. Steve estimated about fifteen hits per antennae might have them disconnected, if War Iron was working alone. But Striker Delta was already aiming for the scarred region, marking it further with nicks from the daggers.

Just as Raiden began to notice Striker Delta, Odin Fury delivered another concussive blow to the Kaiju's head, and Raiden was distracted yet again. War Iron let loose another massive blow that just barely missed Thor and Loki, but Steve and Sam shared a confident agreement that the move had been deliberately close to the Kaiju's main distraction. They chose to insert American Falcon the fray, coming in from the other side of the repulsor blast's last shot and pummeling Raiden in the ribcage with the quickly forming plasma shield. Raiden screeched as the shield made a gash that connected with a number of the smaller cuts made by Striker Delta's daggers, ripping open a wound that spewed Kaiju Blue onto American Falcon and its shield.

Raiden's response was to throw its body weight in American Falcon's direction, tentacles whirling around to whip at the Jaeger. Steve was able to lift the shield to block the first of the two attacks, but was unable to move the shield quickly enough to dodge the second, which caught American Falcon in the thigh. A few of their alarms blared at the burst of energy and both Steve and Sam grunted as the nerve sensors went off in their legs, but it was not debilitating for either pilot or the Jaeger, which responded by backhanding the Kaiju with the shield. Raiden stumbled back towards Odin Fury, which twisted the Kaiju around to face the larger Jaeger.

Thor's thunderous roar covered the dull chatter of the team's statistics as Raiden attempted the same move on Odin Fury and it proved fruitless against the lightning-based Jaeger. Both of Raiden's antennae were caught in the Jaeger's grasp as they whipped around for the attack, the charge not affecting Odin Fury in the least. In response, Odin Fury clasped the two antennae together and threw them against the ground, dragging Raiden's head along with them. Raiden complained as its head hit the water, charging the area around the Kaiju and the Jaeger.

"Hold those steady," Natasha called as Striker Delta jumped over the fallen body of the Kaiju and straddled the antennae just beyond where Odin Fury had a grip on them. Striker Delta whipped out the cabling that Steve had considered earlier and immediately began wrapping the ends of the antennae with the cable, avoiding the wayward ends as they came near the smaller Jaeger and tying off the cable as the two antennae connected. Natasha and Clint moved out of the way just as Raiden struggled its way free from Thor and Loki's grasp, but the Jaeger managed to get one more hit with a charged Mjolnir just as the Kaiju pulled away.

Raiden was sent back to the ground, and Odin Fury lifted it by its connected antennae. The Jaeger held the Kaiju just out of reach of the Kaiju's sharp claws, and far enough away that War Iron could take another damaging shot at the Kaiju's head. A few quick and successive blasts from the repulsors were right on target as they shot past American Falcon, finally removing one of the antennae almost at the root. Raiden flinched as it was removed, and yanked itself away from Odin Fury's grasp again as it reeled from the pain of losing part of it body. The dismembered antennae now hung loosely by the cables to the antennae still attached, and Raiden pulled them both back as though to try to hide them from the army of Jaegers now aiming for the one remaining antennae.

Striker Delta, still gripping the cabling tied to the Kaiju, pulled on the cables that were still connected and Raiden was pulled forward with them, roaring as it was pulled face down into the water. American Falcon took advantage of the situation to move forward, and Steve gripped the shield tight as they brought the plasma weapon down on the last electrical appendage. It severed with a spew of Kaiju Blue onto the shield and down the front of American Falcon, but Steve and Sam were unphased.

Raiden cried out, pulling away as its last antennae was ripped from its body. It was able to stand now that there was nothing to hold down the Kaiju, and swiped out at American Falcon, which blocked the move with the shield. Its claws bounced harmlessly off the plasma surface, and Raiden was forced further back as War Iron blasted the Kaiju from behind American Falcon with a number of small repulsor blasts.

"Good work, team," Steve called into the comms, "Now we can focus on physical attacks from all sides until the elimination repulsor is prepared."

"ETA is two minutes unless you want to fire up a plasma cannon," Tony called in response, and War Iron lifted one of its fists, which began to glow blue with the warm up of the arc reactor's repulsor cannon.

"Negative," Steve replied easily, because the arc reactor's elimination cannon had been designed to preserve the energy that a plasma cannon wasted with every shot. The remainder of the battle would be easy anyway, they just needed to focus on wearing down the Kaiju's remaining energy while War Iron warmed up.

"Prepare for elimination," Sam called over the comms, preparing American Falcon for its plasma cannons. With the Kaiju successfully downed and struggling, the concentrated blasts of repulsors would be enough to destroy it quickly and relatively painlessly, allowing the team to return to the labs to continue the discussion from earlier. Striker Delta moved forward, landing a few punches and moving back into the dagger attacks it had been running earlier. Odin Fury lifted Mjolnir but mostly used the weapon as a blunt force, enhancing the Jaeger's lightning fight with an extra punch of ice. American Falcon landed hits using the shield, but Steve was mostly using the time to monitor the rest of the team as well as Raiden's vitals.

"Concussive blasts are go," the Lt. Colonel called from War Iron after just a few moments, and the repulsor flared with the increased energy of the knockout blast intended to destroy the Kaiju without wasting the plasma cannons, which could be used in case of a malfunction.

That, however, was when the Odin Fury reached out one more time and caught Raiden by the throat, throwing the Kaiju onto its back before War Iron could complete its shot. The Kaiju reacted with a screech and began writhing, but was far too weak to stand up to the oversized Jaeger, which held it against the ground with one large fist around the Kaiju's neck.

"Odin Fury, what are you doing? We are in prep for elimination," Steve questioned into the comms, watching Odin Fury while waiting for Thor and Loki's response. There was silence, for the most part, as the other Jaegers hovered around the scene before them, unsure what to do as Odin Fury held the Kaiju down, preventing the others from moving in on it. Steve and Sam both remained alert, listening for the brothers' response and watching for movement beyond the slowing flailing of the dying Kaiju.

"Don't you get it?” Loki shouted eventually, “We can control them. We can make them ours and then we can use them! There's no need to destroy the Breach, no need to completely rid ourselves of the magnificent creatures!" Steve scowled at Sam over the other man's words, mirroring his copilot’s reaction to Loki’s outburst. He had never heard Loki speak so loudly and in so many words before, although if they were as lunatic as the words coming out of his mouth now there was good reason. Steve thought about the idea of controlling the Kaiju, of using its power for good rather than simply fighting it until one or both parties were beaten beyond recovery. Steve personally didn't understand it and didn't trust it, but he was not the one attached to Loki in the drift. Thor had grown quiet immediately after Sam had called orders for elimination, and had remained quiet during Loki's shouting. Now that he was paying attention, their Jaeger was beginning to move more slowly, as though straining the minds inside as well. Steve wondered briefly if Thor was not speaking up because he didn't not want to ruin such a brilliant idea or if Thor had been coerced to support his brother’s plan.

Odin Fury began to move, and Steve jumped in alarm as the machine came roaring down upon the Kaiju. Energy began to glow from the Jaeger's hands, although Steve was unsure exactly what kind of energy other than the fact that it was glowing gold where the Jaeger's usual abilities were a white-blue with energy or cold. This was a skill of which Steve was not aware, and he watched in alarm as Odin Fury began to pummel the Kaiju into the water.

"We just need to subdue it!" Loki shouted over the comms, and Steve wondered briefly if he was shouting to them or to himself. It seemed like it no longer mattered  what the other Jaegers were doing, as Odin Fury held Raiden firmly by the head and was beating it with glowing fists.

"We cannot do this, brother," Thor's voice finally rang through, and Steve was loathe to admit that he was glad to hear it, especially as a voice of reason. That Thor was shouting against his brother, however, immediately put Steve on edge, and he felt Sam's concern escalate as well.

"Odin Fury, what is your endgame?" Steve asked, this time his voice less steady and considerably less calm than the last, watching the other Jaeger for some sign of sanity or plan. Both Striker Delta and War Iron took a step back in the water, also assessing the situation from a different angle.

"You want to destroy it," Loki called, voice alarmingly low. Steve wondered where Thor was, but didn't have the time or the patience to interrupt Loki to ask, as the man kept speaking. "You want to destroy the Breach and prevent any more Kaiju from coming through. I have listened to your plan and I say there is another way. We don't have to destroy the Breach to stop the Kaiju War, and we don't have to destroy the Kaiju as though there is no better use for them. I have been working with my team and we have developed a method to control them - "

"That's crazy," Tony interrupted him, "When were you even working on this? You didn't have the time or the resources to be working on this, I've been monitoring all the labs and experiments lately. You've gone completely mental, Loki. Even with the research, you can't just control the Kaiju. They don't work like they're just robots ready for their master's signal. And where does Thor stand with all of this, anyway? What does you have to say, muscles?"

Loki ignored Tony's questions and pressed on, voice growing more quiet and more calm by the minute even despite the small battle Odin Fury was still waging against the struggling Raiden. Steve finally realized that Odin Fury seemed to be attempting to get the Kaiju into a specific position, which was confirmed when Raiden was finally thrown back onto its back and straddled by the larger Jaeger. Without a moment's hesitation, Odin Fury plunged its glowing gold fist into the chest of the Kaiju underneath it, tearing skin and muscle and bone as its fist pierced just above where the Kaiju's heart would be. Raiden let out a shriek of pain and struggled against the intrusion, but Odin Fury was mostly all glowing now, and Steve could see the straining pieces of metal that disappeared into the cavity they had created. The entire system glowed brightly, even around the Kaiju's torn chest, and Steve noted that the glowing was growing stronger as the Jaeger continued to dig into Raiden. Raiden itself also seemed to make this connection, and with one last feeble attempt, reached up to the Jaeger's wrist to try to yank the intrusion from its seeping injury. But Odin Fury did not move under the Kaiju's attack, and with its energy spent, Raiden collapsed into the water.


	11. Chapter 11

Steve felt nauseated, and forced himself to look away from the scene before him. Raiden had ceased fighting just a moment before, but was still struggling to breathe through its bruised head and neck, and through the gaping wound in its chest. But it had gone totally still, and finally Odin Fury ceased glowing and stood. "Status check," Steve called hopelessly, looking for signs of life in the Kaiju and spotting none. He then looked to Odin Fury, almost expecting its two pilots to emerge.

"It worked," Loki said eventually, voice full of shock and pride, "I have taken control of this Kaiju."

"You have killed this Kaiju," Sam corrected quickly, "But I guess we can't complain since that's what we set out here to do." There were a few snarky thoughts passing through Sam's mind about minus the creepy commentary and Mortal Kombat-style heart punching, but he didn't say them out loud and for that, Steve was grateful.

"And you are a fool," Loki replied curtly. Surprise rippled cautiously through the drift as it came through the communications, and Steve could imagine that all eyes on the field turn towards the deceased Kaiju. Very slowly, it began to move, raising up on his arms and back onto its haunches. Steve and Sam watched in horror as Raiden's eyes refocused on the group, zeroing in on Odin Fury but never moving. "I have taken control of this Kaiju," Loki continued, "And it is now good for nothing except to do my bidding. We have defeated the Kaiju through a means other than destroying them and losing all of their potential.”

Steve outright stared as Raiden continued to survey its surroundings, taking in everything and moving slowly as though it were drugged. The hole in its chest seemed minimal now that it was standing but was seeping Kaiju Blue down Raiden's chest and into the water below. Steve scowled, because the Kaiju was apparently rotting from the inside while Loki controlled it.

"And how are you controlling it?" he asked slowly, not moving his eyes away from the lethargic Kaiju. There had to be something - a trick - to essentially tranquilizing a Kaiju, and Steve needed to know exactly what it was.

"That's something I'd like to also know," Tony cut in, and Steve just barely caught the tch Loki let into the microphone.

"You would not understand the intricacies involved in such a project," Loki told them, an air of disdain tainting his voice. "It is years of research which were almost wasted on the likes of your grand idea."

"Years of research with who, Loki? Because we haven't had the supplies needed to do this kind of research and if we did, we would not have been wasting it on something cruel like this." Tony ranted, voicing Steve's concern for him. It was even more alarming to hear that Loki had apparently been working on this plan for years. Exactly how long had he been planning a weapon which could brutally torture its enemies (a cruelty Steve decided not even the Kaiju deserved) and then completely subdue them? It was time and resources they could have been putting into something else, something more useful. "Something like this is just what I might expect from some of the underground scientists or the black market dealers, and you know Shatterdome policy is not to work with those kinds of people - " Tony halted, and Steve could practically hear the gears turning in the other man's head despite them not being attached in the drift. He and Sam were sharing the same thought processes, and came to the same conclusion just as Tony whispered, "But you went ahead and struck a deal with them, didn't you?"

"Just watch for a moment, and I will show you just what the lab sciences have done for me in exchange for the promise of the power you almost squandered," Loki called over Steve's shock, and Steve looked up to try to see what it was that forced Raiden to follow Loki.

"Loki, where is Thor?" Steve asked instead, hoping that the pilot himself might respond.

Much to his relief, it was Thor who answered, "I am here," although it sounded tired and resigned. Steve listened carefully to Thor's words, trying to find out if the man was injured or just fatigued, but there were no more sounds from Odin Fury. Instead, Raiden began to move again, this time in jerky, uncoordinated motions. It took Raiden a full two minutes to return to its fully erect position, even as it seemed to fight its invisible shackles and struggle through a number of clear internal injuries, not even counting its exterior wounds.

"What we have done," Loki explained slowly, speaking over Thor and ignoring Steve's questions. "Is taken those same brain waves that Doctor Foster and Doctor Ross found - " And at the sound of Jane's name, Loki let out an exaggerated noise of disdain "And ultimately put them to better use. Here we've placed a small device within the Kaiju that confuses it into thinking these are the signals the Breach is sending to it, which it will perform as soon as it receives them. And we control it with this magic little device here." A small rod emerged from Odin Fury's extended palm as Loki spoke, and began glowing a brighter gold once it was fully extended. Odin Fury gripped the rod as it extended fully, and pointed it towards Raiden. A spark of electricity traced over the Kaiju's body, seemingly in emphasis over what Loki was saying, but it did not put Steve at ease. Seeing the Kaiju so still was alien to him, and he acknowledged that his disbelief might be coloring his opinion over what Loki had done, but there was also something to the monster that Steve just couldn't put his finger on. Something about Raiden seemed tense, uncertain, and as it stood it continued to freeze and unfreeze in place as though it were still fighting a battle.

"We have revolutionized this war," Loki continued, undeterred by Raiden's strange behavior.

"Loki, you've got to stop this before somebody gets hurt," Rhodes admonished, War Iron taking a small step towards the Kaiju. "Let's get rid of this Kaiju and head back, where we can discuss this plan of yours rationally and safely."

"Do not speak to me as if I were a child," Loki reprimanded, "I have been treated as a lesser pilot for far too long to stand here and allow you to ignore my solution to this issue, the only real solution!"

Raiden let out a bark, and Steve's attention was returned to the Kaiju in front of them. It barked again, this time shivering under the sparking energy for longer before going still again. The sound seemed to be coming from the Kaiju's core, but Steve wasn't sure why the monster was making such a noise. "I want you get get a good look, Stark," Loki called tauntingly, "At what your technology could have done."

"It doesn't make any sense," Tony replied, "What are you using to control a body that size? Not your own mind and just that little bitty rod, surely? And what about the second brain? There's so many rogue factors here, it's illogical and inefficient to even consider control of the Kaiju a viable solution to this issue."

"Why would you even want to," Clint added with emphasis, "I thought the goal was to get rid of all the big and ugly."

"Thor," Steve pleaded, hoping an attempt to rationalize with the elder of the brothers might create some results, "Thor, you've got to see that there's something wrong with this. Look at the Kaiju. There's something unnatural about what's happening here."

Odin Fury remained silent, and for a few moments the only sign that the Jaeger was still powered was the cracking energy radiating to the Kaiju in front of it. Raiden let out a longer roar while Steve waited, and Sam gently nudged him in the drift with some information Steve had been ignoring since trying to communicate with the Odinson brothers.

"Energy in the Kaiju is increasing exponentially," Sam explained out loud, "And most of it is not coming from Odin Fury. I think Raiden might be converting the energy as we speak. If we don't do something, this is going to go lightning storm fast.”

"I am sorry, Captain," Thor muttered into the comms as Steve was beginning to believe the man was lost, and was developing a plan to try to counter what Sam was saying. Thor's exhaustion had become more evident since even the last time they had spoken, and he continued as though each word was a greater labor than the last. "It is his will, and I cannot deny my brother this.”

"Thor, this is ridiculous. Look at the statistics. There is nothing about this that makes any sense, and if you let this continue there are _going_ to be consequences," Tony continued. Steve had read briefly, during his training, about compatibility that was not healthy for copilots. Steve wondered if this was one of those cases, where there was a toxic environment in the drift and the Odinson brothers had somehow managed to trick everybody into thinking they were appropriately compatible. There was certainly something wrong now within the Jaeger, for Thor to sound so exhausted. Steve couldn't figure out what it might be.

 _Is it at all possible Loki could be issuing a similar influence on Thor?_ Sam suggested in the drift just as Steve had the same thought, and Steve mentally agreed with the possibility.

 _Not likely,_ Steve reasoned back at his partner, _Just because of the nature of the control device. It’s not meant for humans. But Thor has never shown signs of this complacency before, so there might be something more to it._

 _There might be something about the drift that’s allowing him to influence Thor through their connection. We’ll issue an order to investigate when we return,_ Sam replied. Steve moved to consult the other Jaegers, but Loki interrupted before he could change the comm settings.

"Thor has long since exhausted himself trying to talk me out of this decision," Loki called for his quieting brother, "And has finally come to see my reasoning. I suggest the team do the same." Odin Fury pulled on the rod in its hand, and Raiden moved forward a halting step, complaining and twitching more with each strained muscle. Each of the remaining Jaegers dropped into a more alert position as the complaining became louder and louder, reaching an almost constant noise as Raiden put its foot down.

"Hitting critical," Sam warned quickly, just as Raiden made a yanking gesture and threw itself away from Odin Fury as though it were escaping a leash. The Kaiju cried out, and electricity sparked across its skin as it shook off the effects of Loki's influence and turned on the Jaeger. Odin Fury took a surprised step back, but it didn't help the Jaeger as Raiden leapt forward and tackled it to the ground with a terrifying dive. Odin Fury fell hard, hitting the water with a groan of metal and a crunch of joints that were not supposed to give as they were forced into the wall of water beneath them. Thor and Loki's twin cries of surprise echoed over the comms as Raiden's electrified body hovered over theirs, transferring energy over the surface of the Jaeger and seeking a way into its inner circuits.

Before any of the other Jaegers could react, Raiden took Odin Fury's core and clenched at the clear panelling before charging its fist with the same energy that was crackling over its body and slamming the charged fist into the core. Odin Fury lurched upwards, and the Conn Pod came level with Raiden's face before dropping back against the ocean floor. The Jaeger gave the semblance of a struggle, pulling at Raiden just as the Kaiju had done moments before, but the fight was useless with Raiden's newfound strength. It seemed like nothing phased the Kaiju anymore, and as Odin Fury pulled and attacked, Raiden only seemed to grow angrier.

With one final angry cry, Raiden slammed its fist against the core again and Steve watched in horror as the protective panelling cracked. The whole Jaeger then lit up as though it was a light, and electricity sparked over and through the machine freely. Steve was taken back to his last electrical fight, but forced himself not to chase that rabbit and instead focus on the Jaeger in trouble in front of him.

"War Iron, try to remove that Kaiju so Odin Fury can stand again!" Steve shouted, moving back into plan mode and trying to figure out if there was anything new about the Kaiju that they might need to know.

As War Iron moved forward, however, Raiden got a better grip on the Jaeger underneath it and ripped one more time at the helmet piece. This time the whole robot gave with a sick screech of metal, and a series of small explosions took place along the seam where the helmet connected to the breastplate.

"Thor, Loki, status!" Steve shouted to the downed Jaeger, but there was no response from either brother, and the entirety of the Jaeger had gone dark. Steve looked again for signs of life within the robot, but there didn't seem to be any and it would be impossible to confirm otherwise until they could get the Jaeger away from the Kaiju standing protectively over it.

"We need to get that Jaeger out of the danger zone," Steve explained over the comms, "But we need a strategy for dealing with this Kaiju before we move forward."

"Take a closer look at the Kaiju, Captain. Raiden's going berserk, and not just because it's angry. Look at the eyes in particular," Clint called as Striker Delta just barely maneuvered out of the way of Raiden’s strikes. Indeed, the Kaiju was shouting in rage as sparks flew over the entirety of its body, muscles seizing and releasing and body shaking with energy. Steve made a point to check the Kaiju's eyes, and was surprised to find Clint's observation useful. The eyes of the Kaiju were dead: dull and glassy and lacking any of the animal-like iris that Steve could usually identify in the species. He hadn't spent a lot of time in particular staring at Raiden's face, but there was definitely something wrong with the Kaiju's appearance now. As he watched, energy gathered in the socket and danced around the lid of the possessed eye, but the Kaiju didn't react. Raiden's mind - what the Kaiju seemed to have of one, anyway - was clearly completely gone as it thrashed around, aiming for whatever moving object was in sight and caught its attention. The Jaegers still standing stayed back as much as they could, moving to avoid the insane Kaiju as it struck out at each of them.

"It seems to be unable to process so many signals in its mind," Sam theorized as they watched Striker Delta yet again avoid a series of scraping claws and gnashing teeth, "The jumbled mess of control within its brain is probably driving it into this frenzy in an attempt to clear its mind. It's clearly running on adrenaline right now, and extremely dangerous. Adrenaline tends to increase base strength in the Kaiju, and it appears that Raiden has also increased the output of its electrical field."

"Okay, you heard Lieutenant Wilson," Steve called, "Use extreme caution in approaching this Kaiju. We need to try to move Odin Fury to a safer location and try to get any signs of life from the Conn Pod. War Iron, you're on point against Raiden and I want Striker Delta checking in on Thor and Loki. War Iron, Sam and I have your back on the Kaiju."

"Steve, that might be a bit of a problem," Clint replied quickly, and the three Jaegers convened on the Kaiju. Raiden had turned its attention to the downed Jaeger in front of it, clawing at the armor and pulling at the Conn Pod as it screeched its agony of the pain suffered it at the hands of Odin Fury. War Iron immediately reached out to blast the side of Raiden's face with one of its repulsor blasts, but it only seemed to make the Kaiju angrier at the machine underneath it.

"Okay, we're going to try to dislodge it first. Striker Delta, you pull Odin Fury out of there as soon as you have the clearance." He and Sam completed the sentence with a flourish, throwing out the right arm and calling forth the plasma shield that had destroyed the last Kaiju. American Falcon lifted the shield, locked it squarely against its shoulder and charged, heading straight for Raiden with the shield aimed right at the head. The Jaeger successfully collided with the Kaiju, and both parties were sent sprawling to the ground as American Falcon tackled Raiden and moved to hold it down. The Kaiju shrieked as it was hit and immediately began thrashing its limbs against its new captor. Steve and Sam were able, for the most part, to avoid to claws aimed for their Jaeger's arms and face, but Raiden had grown a little stronger than they anticipated and American Falcon was thrown off in a matter of moments. Raiden stood and hissed at the Jaeger but did not move forward to attack it, instead turning to where Striker Delta was trying to heave Odin Fury further away.

"War Iron, fire!" Steve ordered, and a round of repulsor blasts nailed Raiden squarely in the face. The Kaiju seemed unaffected, however, even though it was now bleeding from a few scrapes down its head and neck, and it continued running for Striker Delta and its extra weight.

American Falcon made another running tackle just as War Iron successfully fired off another round of hits, and again the Kaiju went down only to right itself after shaking off the effects of the attacks. This time it slammed one huge fist into the head of American Falcon, temporarily disabling Steve and Sam's ability to maneuver over the shockwaves of the assault. "Let go of Odin Fury," Steve called to Striker Delta and Raiden turned to them again and struck out in their direction, only barely missing the core of Striker Delta. "If it's after them at least we can keep one Jaeger safe while we rework our plan." Striker Delta seemed to hesitate, but eventually let go of Odin Fury's upper body and let it fall back into the water. Raiden let out another roaring call as it reclaimed its prey, jumping on the Jaeger and pulling on its machinery even as Striker Delta struggled to get out of range. War Iron let out another round of blasts, these reminiscent of a plasma cannon, but the damage was minimal on Raiden and the Kaiju barely noticed what the Jaeger's weapon actually was able to do. It seemed content to simply tug and tear at the Conn Pod of the Odin Fury' shut down systems, determined to dislodge what would have been the head.

Steve sucked in air as he and Sam struggled to right their Jaeger out of the water. "We clearly need a different plan here, or backup. Fury, do we have anybody else we can use?"

"There is one," Phil spoke into the comms, albeit hesitantly.

"It’s not an option!" Lt. Colonel Rhodes threatened almost immediately, but Phil spoke over the Lt. Colonel, disregarding his warning.

"We have a reserve Jaeger we only use in case of emergency. I can't guarantee it will be very effective but it might be our best shot."

"We'll take any shot we can now," Steve called, although there seemed to be more chatter of disagreement on the comms as he did so. He chose to ignore it, instead focusing on getting another Jaeger into his strategy, "Send them out."

"Very well," Phil said, one last time, "We're sending out the Hulk."


	12. Chapter 12

It took a few minutes, while the Jaegers continued to try in vain to tear Raiden from atop Odin Fury, but eventually there was a roar in the distance. It was carnal, but distinct enough that Steve was certain it did not belong to another Kaiju.

"That's The Hulk," Natasha explained over the radios as Striker Delta struggled to get back on its feet. It finally managed to do so successfully, using the legs mostly as support to help it stand and point in the direction of the Shatterdome. "It's perhaps time we discuss what happened to Doctor Banner that has made the story so classified."

"That might be a good idea now, yeah," Sam called, watching in the direction the roar had come from.

"Three years ago S.H.I.E.L.D. decided they needed a better, more efficient method for producing and piloting Jaegers," Clint began, and Steve was relieved to hear the man would be narrating the story. Clint seemed to be the pilot that carried the most empathy for others, so he was least likely to trample over any feet in the explanation. "They needed more pilots, and they needed them faster than they could recruit them. At the time, Bruce Banner was an aspiring biologist who was studying alongside Doctor Ross at the Hong Kong shatterdome, focusing on the drift and the neural handshake in pilots. When he heard the plea for pilots, Banner quickly volunteered, and then volunteered for an additional program when he thought he could help it."

"That program was a pilot studies," Rhodes continued for Clint, albeit very cautiously. Steve was reminded that the subject seemed to be something of a sensitive topic for Tony, and realized there might be more to the story - and to Tony - than met the eye. Rhodes had apparently taken it upon himself to explain the situation delicately. "They were trying to develop a system that required less energy from the mind to operate. The goal was to try to create a Jaeger that didn't need two pilots to operate because they had seen the situation occur under duress in earlier conditions similar - specifically, Captain Rogers's situation. They wanted to see those results but without the trauma and stress that earlier versions of a single pilot Jaeger had caused, and that meant they had a number of options to explore. Stark Industries eventually churned out the blueprints for a prototype, and the idea seemed like a solid and feasible design, so S.H.I.E.L.D. ordered the construction of the Jaeger and had it delivered within the year. Everybody was excited because it meant not having to share your mind with other pilots anymore, or having your emotions broadcast all the time. Doctor Banner volunteered during one of the recruitment seminars and turned out to be enough of a potential to qualify for the initial tests. He then spent the next six months training for the Jaeger, mentally preparing himself for the single operation of a Jaeger to Human handshake.

Clint interrupted again, picking up the story where Rhodes took a breath. "Doctor Banner's first trip out was during a Kaiju attack not a week before he was supposed to officially test out the systems. We were still low on pilots at the time, and so while many volunteered, nobody was eager to join in the fight. We had as many Jaegers out as we could afford, but it still wasn't enough to pull down the Kaiju. Banner and his Jaeger, The Hulk, were introduced to try to even the odds.

"We're still not sure what happened during that fight. One minute, Banner's systems are fine and the man is proving that Jaegers have advanced far enough to be handled by a single pilot alone, and the next there's nothing reading correctly on the screen. We think now it might have been some residual radiation left over in the Jaeger that affected the systems, or perhaps just that we were not meant to fight in giant robots, but either way something went wrong within the Conn Pod. The other Jaegers were pinged as we lost connection with Bruce inside the Hulk just as the robot went crazy. We were in the middle of a Kaiju battle and suddenly we're also having to deal with a Jaeger suffering serious malfunctions. And not just the usual shutdown, these malfunctions were causing the Jaeger to fight in such a way that we weren't even sure if it was on our team or the Kaiju's. The fighting almost seemed to be a berserker rage, but there are gauges in the systems that are supposed to prevent a pilot from translating too much stress into the system. With Banner, it was like everything became a target. We were lucky that the Hulk seemed to find the Kaiju as much of a problem as it found us, and so careful maneuvering helped destroy the Kaiju before we had to deal with the Hulk itself. After that it was a matter of keeping our distance, trying to communicate with Bruce within the Jaeger."

"Efforts to simultaneously avoid the Hulk and communicate with it were only met with aggression," Natasha explained, "And they lasted four hours before Doctor Ross was eventually able to reach Doctor Banner within the Conn Pod. Like a switch, the Jaeger suddenly halted and began sending readings again, and Doctor Banner was somehow able to disconnect himself from the Jaeger. We had him airlifted out, but the damage to his mental state was irreparable by the time we were able to look at him. Apparently the neural handshake created a feedback so intense it sent Doctor Banner into an insane rage that damaged part of his temporal lobe. All considering, he was lucky it didn't kill him but left Doctor Banner with the need to be under constant supervision."

"I should have been the one piloting that Jaeger," Tony cut in, managing to ignore the roaring that was rapidly becoming louder, "It was my design, so I should have been the one to test it. The part that went wrong was the programming I installed to operate the Jaeger as though there was already a second pilot. It was an AI system that hadn’t been developed enough to function like a human brain and we went and attached it to Bruce. He only volunteered because he said they needed me more, and he never let me argue that. But I should be the one drooling in the cell."

"Doctor Banner was half right in that we needed you," Natasha said, "Although he should have better estimated his own worth. There was no way of knowing what the AI would do once it went online, Tony. And since its creation, you have worked tirelessly to enhance the systems in the Hulk and have come a long way in advancing its systems. The process is still too dangerous to risk another pilot, but Doctor Banner has consistently offered his consent to continue piloting the Jaeger. He is brought in at times like these, when we have little other option. It’s not a complete failure."

Steve's explanation of the Hulk was cut off as a giant green Jaeger charged by American Falcon, ramming Raiden and knocking it over in a heaving shove. Steve blinked as the Hulk forced his way through the crowd of smaller Jaegers and overtook the Kaiju with such little effort, watching his screen in disbelief. It was a Jaeger even more massive than the Odin Fury, with leg supports each thicker than American Falcon's own legs combined and with a trunk so wide that Steve wasn't sure how it got in and out of the Shatterdome. The shape of the Jaeger was shocking as well, a hunched figure whose Conn Pod lay low in the face, which sat protected in a bed of neck armor and seemingly unnecessary metal. The fists were the most shocking part, however, easily each the size of the Hulk's head and packing as much power. Steve wondered about the power of a plasma cannon located in the beefy arms of the Hulk, and promptly decided that he didn't want to know.

The Hulk, now pounding the downed Kaiju into the water much like Odin Fury had before it, let out a roar that Steve was not too proud to admit made him jump. He didn't even know Jaegers could roar beyond the normal capacity of their pilots, but there was clearly more to the Hulk that Steve needed to be studying. Sam mirrored the sentiment, and Steve could feel the other man's calculated analysis of the armor begin to mix with his own. It was almost hypnotizing to watch the gears of the Hulk grind and shift, smoother than any of the Jaegers Steve had ever seen, moving with even more fluidity than War Iron.

Raiden let out a screech as the Hulk landed a particularly nasty punch to its jaw, and Steve was thrust back into the present. They needed to regroup and form a plan while Raiden was distracted, and he began formulating one from this new knowledge.

"Ears to the Captain," Sam called over the comms as soon as Steve was confident he had a decent plan in his mind. Steve nodded his thanks and quickly assessed where all the Jaegers were currently situated. His idea was definitely feasible, and he gained confidence as all comm channels opened to the American Falcon.

"War Iron, you're on backup detail. Keep firing at Raiden but keep at it from a distance. Don't get too close to either the Hulk or the Kaiju. I want you completely out of the Hulk's sight range, blasting from behind him. Striker Delta, you're on distraction detail. Keep the Hulk's attention on Raiden by any means necessary, but try to keep out of his sight range as well. If his attention wavers, draw it back and get him focused again. Don't let him spot War Iron before the Kaiju is down, and don't let him spot you. Sam and I are going to get Odin Fury into position for evacuation. We'll join you back on the field as soon as the Jaeger has been moved and reassess the Hulk's status then. Most important right now is to stay out of trouble. Signal if you come under fire from either the Hulk or from Raiden."

A round of affirmatives completed Steve's orders, and he gave a brief salute to Sam to signal that he was ready to move. Odin Fury was mostly in the water, though the Conn Pod did not appear to have been breached. American Falcon leaned down to get a better look at the Conn Pod, which was blinking with the very slightest power. The entire system had been fried by Raiden's enhanced technique, which greatly alarmed Steve considering Odin Fury was supposed to be most resistant.

"Communications with the Conn Pod are still unresponsive, but there seem to be wavering vitals from the drive suits," Sam said, displaying the readings they were getting from the hull. "I'm sending the information to LOCCENT but we need to get the Conn Pod out as quickly as possible. Evac estimates a two minute arrival for the head and says they'll get the body later."

"Free the Conn Pod. Got it," Steve replied, and the two began studying the connections. Too quick a disconnect could rupture something within the Jaeger and cause an explosion or jostle the men inside too much. There was a latch, usually, that allowed the removal of the helmet in case of emergencies, it was just a matter of finding it. Sam began running the blueprints for the Odin Fury through the drift in case Steve could spot something within his spotty memory of the details that might be a hint. Steve didn't actually see anything that might be useful, but kept examining the Jaeger anyway.

"It's over here," Sam called, and his side of American Falcon was digging into the collar joint of the Odin Fury. He caught a release right as he spoke, and the Jaeger's helmet raised just enough for Sam and Steve to grasp the edges within their own Jaeger's fingers. They lifted gently, severing the connections still in place and removing the head entirely. Sam gave one last attempt at communication into the pod but still received no answer. It was less than a minute more before the sound of a helicopter in the distance revealed their evac team, and American Falcon helped to carefully load the Conn Pod onto the lift. It took off and Steve communicated with LOCCENT about checking in with Thor and Loki as soon as they knew anything. He and Sam quickly turned American Falcon back to the fight, jogging up next to War Iron.

"What is the status?" Steve asked, although it was pretty clear that Raiden had gotten its second wind and was currently wrestling with the Hulk by throwing him and its weight around. War Iron was taking every advantage and opening by firing into the cracks while Striker Delta danced around the perimeter, sending small blasts to keep the Hulk's eyes on the Kaiju trying to pull it down.

"Raiden is slowing," Rhodes noted, "We think the residual energy may finally be wearing off, and it's beginning to bleed more steadily as well. If we can get a few more solid hits, it should be enough to take Raiden down for good, assuming Loki hasn't negated that ability."

"Then we go for it," Steve said, and Sam began preparation of their plasma cannon. War Iron rearranged its own weapons system, revealing the arc reactor version of the plasma cannon which combined the cannon barrel and the arc reactor's blasts. Striker Delta initiated its own plasma cannon, and on Steve's signal the three each sent a handful of blasts into the tiring Kaiju.

It took the Hulk a moment to realize what was going on, but the reaction once he did was immediate. He let out another roar, banging his fists against his the chest armor in a show of rage. The three remaining Jaegers persisted, however, and the Hulk quickly figured out he needed to avoid the blasts coming from his teammates.

"Hulk, Banner, stand down!" Steve shouted over the comms, attempting to draw the attention of the pilot within but having little hope. The roaring of the giant Jaeger was almost deafening, and it was unlikely Steve might even be heard within its shell. "Banner, stand down!" he tried one more time.

The Hulk, which still had the writhing Raiden within its grasp, turned in the direction of American Falcon and roared again, slamming the bleeding Kaiju's head into the ground so that it could stomp its metal feet. Steve considered it a step in the right direction that Doctor Banner at least recognized who was trying to communicate with him, and so he continued to do so.

"If you draw that deranged green monster onto us," Sam warned quietly, "I will personally leave you here to pilot this Jaeger and go crazy yourself." He leveled Steve with a stare and Steve only gazed back, expression steady as he tried to relay his plan. To be honest he didn't have much of a plan but it seemed better than letting the Hulk have its way with them as soon as he finished with the Kaiju.

"It doesn't quite work that way," Steve grinned, because he could vaguely remember his time actually piloting a Jaeger alone and he wasn't sure he could quite understand Banner's situation but he had to try. "Banner, I'm telling you one last time," he said loudly, making sure American Falcon was facing the Hulk straight on, "To stand down and prepare for return to the Shatterdome."

The Hulk kept his Conn Pod trained on American Falcon for a moment, staring, before he defiantly took the Kaiju's head within his massive gauntlets and twisted, finally killing the struggling Kaiju. The corpse fell limp between the Hulks legs, and the Jaeger continued to stare at American Falcon, daring Steve to speak.

It was a dangerous game, Steve recognized, challenging the Hulk within its own territory. Steve wished, vaguely, that he had been given the chance to speak with Doctor Banner before he had to deal with the Jaeger as a whole. It might have helped if Doctor Banner could recognize him, but he would have to deal with what he was given.

"We've got you covered," Clint called from Striker Delta, and Steve allowed himself to glance out of the corner of his eye at the Jaeger, which still had its plasma cannon raised. War Iron on the other side also had its repulsor canons ready and aimed, so Steve took a deep breath.

"Stark, you need to address Banner inside and see if you can calm him down. Private comm and see if you can get a connection, let us know how Banner is doing in there."

Tony affirmed before cutting off their comms, and there was radio silence for a few minutes while he attempted communication. Steve waited patiently, reviewing a number of strategies with Sam while they waited for Tony's verdict. He’d chosen Tony specifically because of the man’s repertoire with Dr. Banner, but Steve was losing hope on the situation even with Tony’s history with the man.

The silent minutes began to grow long, and Steve became increasingly worried as neither War Iron nor the Hulk moved. He considered that this was probably a positive thing, since it meant the Hulk wasn't actively trying to destroy them, but it also meant Steve didn't know what exactly was going on, and that made him more uncomfortable. "So there's good news," Tony called just as the silence was beginning to get unbearable, "It seems Banner is mostly in control of himself right now and is willing to shut down the Hulk."

"And the bad news?" Clint asked, to which Tony scoffed.

"Who said there was bad news, birdbrain?" he asked, but sighed when the comms went silent again. "The bad news is that he insists on being restrained until he can be returned to his cell. He seems to be of sound mind for the moment but thinks he may relapse and would rather be under supervision if he does so."

"And how would we do that?" Sam asked. It wasn't like the Jaegers were easily accessed from Jaeger to Jaeger, or like any of the pilots had much spare room in their Conn Pods. It seemed like he would have to be restrained within his own Jaeger, but even that seemed impossible when Steve realized there was nobody who could get close enough.

"Banner's drive suit serves as a shutdown point," Phil said into the comms after the pilots failed to supply an idea, "It's activated by a trigger and will shut down the Hulk until J-Tech can get in and release the trigger manually."

"And you accept that, Doctor Banner? Until we return to the Shatterdome?" Steve ventured one last time.

"I'd prefer it, if you don't mind," Bruce Banner called back, and Steve heard for the first time the voice of the broken doctor. He sounded exhausted, like he'd been fighting for years, and Steve held in the wince that Sam echoed within the drift. But the man had confirmed, and so Steve gave the go ahead to initiate the lockdown sequence.

It was unnerving, watching the Jaeger return to its default stance with the jerkiness of a robot after watching it so gracefully move as though it were human. Steve suppressed another shudder as he watched the mechanical jerking of the Hulk as it stood frozen in place, unmoving and looking for all intents like a dead Jaeger. Steve wanted to confirm again that Bruce was okay within the Conn Pod because he was already beginning to feel stifled himself, but Sam's quiet calm in the drift permeated for a moment while Steve debated. He felt himself relaxing, and realized that Bruce probably didn't want any disturbances to the quiet cage he had specifically requested. "Jaegers," Steve said instead, closing communications to the Hulk, "Return to base. LOCCENT, round up in five, send extra for Odin Fury."

A final round of affirmatives, and Steve gave Sam the go ahead to begin their shutdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those rereading, it seems I uploaded a previous draft of this chapter and Odin Fury's name had been replaced from a working draft. My apologies for the mishap, but it should be fixed now!


	13. Chapter 13

It was a quiet arrival back at the Shatterdome, where each Jaeger moved to get restationed as quickly as possible so that they might all meet in the medical wing to check on the status of both Thor and Loki. Bruce was removed from his Jaeger upon arrival, and taken in specialized cuffs provided by Phil and a small team of J-Tech down the laboratories hall, and Steve watched from a distance while he waited for the others. He made a note to speak with Bruce, just as soon as he knew how Thor and Loki were doing. Nobody spoke as the group of six finally gathered at the hangar's entrance, and even Tony was silent as they moved towards the medical wing.

"We've come to check on Thor and Loki, the two Rangers brought in after today's battle," Steve announced as they arrived, looking to the first person in uniform sitting at the desk. The woman looked up at him and at the team behind him, startled, before standing to come around the desk.

"They didn't make it here," she said, bewildered. There was a collective gasp that rolled through the group of six, followed by a low rumble of shock and grief. The woman shook her head, and held up her hand pleadingly. "No, I mean they required immediate work back in the hangar. When the Conn Pod arrived back here it was nearly sealed shut, and took most of the J-Tech on duty to pry it open. By the time they finally got inside both of the pilots were in critical condition. It was lucky there was already medical on site to start treatment, because those boys would have been dead if they had waited to get all the way up here. They're planning to move them soon, once they're stable enough to be transported."

The relief in the small space was palpable, and Steve felt himself taking a number of deep breaths to calm his erratic heart and breathing. He didn't even know Thor or Loki all that well, but they had been admirable pilots before Loki's sudden bout of insanity, and from what Steve could tell, good people. He'd at least shared a meal with Thor enough times to consider the other his friend, and it hurt to think he might already be losing the people he was quickly learning to love.

There was a sudden commotion at the other end of the hall, and the nurse threw herself into action by weaving around the gathered pilots and running towards where a set of double doors were being hastily thrown open to reveal a medical team leading two gurneys. The two men on the gurneys were immediately recognizable even despite their pale complexions and the breathing masks over their faces. Without even asking for permission, Natasha and Clint moved to follow the nurse, so the remaining four pilots took it upon themselves to follow them as well. One of the doctors moved to prohibit them from following into the medical bay's ICU, but another waved him off and the group of six moved themselves into the perimeter of what looked to be a surgery center. There were two operating tables prepared as the doctors struggled to move the two men, and the team of six surged forward in order to help get Thor and Loki moved as quickly as possible. Steve tried not to grimace as he moved to Thor and gripped the man's side as they lifted, careful to avoid the numerous tubes and wires protruding from their unconscious companion. Thor was still warm but his body was limp and heavy, and moving him turned out to be a feat even for Steve, Tony, and Clint helping alongside the handful of doctors. Rhodey, Sam, and Natasha had similarly moved to help lift Loki from his own gurney and seemed to have the same difficulty, but it was soon done and the team hovered over Thor and Loki while the doctors ensured that nothing had been jostled too much.

Steve knew the moment that Jane arrived because there was a sudden ruckus just beyond the room's double doors and the repeated shouting of, "Move! Let me through!" that followed her all the way to the front, where she almost forcibly shoved Steve and Tony to the side to get a glimpse at Thor's pale face. She approached right as the doctors finished ensuring Thor's medical equipment was secure, and she gasped and threw her hands against her face to keep from crying out and to unconsciously block the view of her comatose boyfriend. Steve felt his frustration with Loki flare again as Jane's muffled sobs broke through his own distressed thoughts, but it was still difficult to even be angry with the man when he looked so helpless laying on the table next to his brother.

"He's going to be okay," Steve found himself saying to the distressed woman. Jane looked up at him, registering what he had said before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She nodded, stepping away from Thor's unmoving body. Steve allowed the doctors to usher them away from the tables then, and the small group reconvened just outside the operating room.

"They had to run some emergency systems getting out of the Jaeger but the doctors are confident they're both going to make it through in one piece," Steve reassured Jane again once they were all still. Jane was quiet for a moment, scowling, before she let out a groan of frustration and beat her fist once against the nearest wall.

"Damn him!" was Jane's response, and given the tone it almost seemed strange to not see her stamp her foot. "Damn him, I told him Loki was up to something and that he needed to pay better attention!" She hit the wall a few more times, getting out the anger in a way the Steve knew would be a relief, before she hastily wiped away some of the stray tears that had fallen during her tantrum. "I told him that Loki had been acting strangely lately but he told me it was nothing to worry about. Thor's always covering for that bastard of a brother of his, always forgiving Loki when he doesn't deserve to be forgiven." She let a few more tears fall before wiping them away again, laughing sardonically. "I knew it was going to end with something like this."

"They're copilots," Clint said quietly, "And brothers on top of that. I'm sure Thor understood what you were saying but it's not easy to just cut yourself off from family and from your lifestyle. At least now we all know to be more cautious, and at least we know he's going to be okay." As he spoke, Clint moved closer to Jane, finally placing a comforting hand over her shoulder as she listened to him. The anger on Jane's face slowly dissolved into something more understanding, and finally into a calm sadness. She nodded at Clint, wiping the last of her tears and taking another deep breath.

"There is always that," she said, more stoically, and stepped out of his comforting grip. She offered Clint a small, grateful smile before added, "But we're going to have to re-evaluate our original plan." Like the flip of a switch, Jane was back into her usual workaholic mode with only the slightest hints of sadness about her. "Odin Fury played a major role in the original idea but now we'll have to rework it without its strength or long range weaponry. I'm confident it can be done, and I have a few thoughts, but I'd like to discuss it with Betty. Tony, I'd like you to be there as well."

"It would be my pleasure to join you ladies," Tony replied, the relief at the change in atmosphere visible in his posture and tone. He offered Jane an easy smile and his arm, and she took it as they headed out of the medical wing, already discussing alternatives. Steve was glad to see the recovery but made a special note to himself to keep an eye on Jane during Thor’s recovery to ensure her well being.

"The rest of us should get some rest while we have the chance," Steve told the others, "We'll need to be ready for whatever the new game plan is and I want you all in top shape for it. If you're going to train, do so lightly and with more caution than usual. Keep your ears to the ground for updates from LOCCENT. Team dis-"

"That goes double for you, Captain," Natasha replied, and the others chuckled while Steve stuttered sheepishly over where he had been cut off.

"I am going to relax," he said defensively, "I just have a few things to do first."

"Don't let them last too long," Sam instructed, patting his copilot on the shoulder. "I'll be checking your room later today you know."

Steve shrugged as the others laughed, but couldn't help laughing a little himself. It was a visible comfort to the small group that Thor and Loki had been put in the clear and taken out of their minds for the time being, and that they could joke and act normal as much as any of them were actually normal. Steve hadn't realized it, but the team of eight - even Loki, though Steve knew how strained that would be after this - had become close whether they meant to or not, and waiting to hear back about one of their own had been like holding their breath. Steve gave a large exhalation just to clear the feeling, and decided it was an appropriate time to visit Doctor Banner.

Bruce's cell was in a part of the lab that Steve had not yet visited, an area that was so out of the way it couldn't have been used for anything else. The cell itself was a glass room separated from the others, whose display revealed a room with only the most basic necessities: a table and chair, a bed, a sink, and a small room connected whose open door revealed a bathroom. Bruce was sitting at the table with his head resting against his arms. He looked exhausted even though Steve couldn't see his face, shoulders hunched and body curled in on itself uncomfortably in the chair. Steve looked around for some sort of security, but there was only a door with a keypad lock and he wasn't sure who might know the combination.

"I keep myself in here," Bruce called, and Steve jumped before realizing that there was a small vent so conversations could be held through the glass. "When I'm out of my mind, I can't remember the passcode and it keeps me from leaving. Even if I could remember it, Marshall Fury agreed to keep watch on my vitals when I'm in here and is ready for an escape if it happens."

"Seems like you're of pretty sound mind," Steve replied, leaning back on his heels and putting his hands in his pockets. It was a deliberate move, one to show that he trusted the doctor and that he meant no harm himself. Bruce, in turn, sat up to reveal a haggard looking face. He massaged his temples and tired eyes as though he was both exhausted and trying to wake himself up, letting out a sigh as he sat upright to get a good look at Steve. Steve grinned at him, unable to resist under the irritated glare Bruce threw his way. "I wanted to stop by to thank you for coming out to help us today. Without your help we would have all been dead, but even Thor and Loki are going to be okay.”

Bruce laughed, but looked away from Steve to stare at his hands on the table. "Yeah, well, next time you might want to start with a team that's less crazy. It's good to hear everybody's going to be okay, anyway. That doesn't happen a lot when I'm involved."

Sensing Bruce was relaxing a little, Steve leaned against the glass wall. "I get the impression you're not involved a lot. But for the record, if they normally go anything like today then I'm frankly surprised they would go any differently."

Steve waited, but Bruce did not respond. Instead, the shaggy-headed brunet stared harder at his hands, a scowl returning to his face. He looked distressed as he concentrated harder and harder, refusing to look up. Finally Steve stood, and moved until he was right in front of the small table just beyond the glass. He placed his hand against it, not caring about the smudges he left there, and watched Bruce until the other man looked up. Bruce finally did so, glancing up when he noticed Steve had moved and leveling the man with a confused expression. "Why do you keep yourself locked up?" Steve asked quietly when Bruce still did not speak.

"It's easier this way. You don't know what I've been through, Captain, or what I've done. Ever since my first neural handshake, I've been unable to disconnect. I have... It's the Other Guy, you know, he's not just a Jaeger. Did they tell you that? In order to make it so the Jaeger only required one pilot, they had to create a program with enough autonomy to operate the features that were overtaxing the pilot. What they created was an AI, an artificial intelligence with enough awareness to act as a second pilot. It was amazing technology, seemed to work like a charm and as far as a new pilot could tell, felt just like a second pilot. It would speak with you, discuss anything from science to strategy, and could copilot the Jaeger as well as any human. Drifting for the first time was a real pleasure, meeting for the first time and interacting with technology so advanced it might as well be human. But it wasn't human, and it wasn't programmed within the right parameters. Most of the AI's programming was designed with the destruction of Kaiju in mind, but in practice this wasn't the case. The desire, the code to take out every Kaiju in sight became a need that the Jaeger had to fill or it couldn't function. And it drew upon me, used my anger with the Kaiju to fuel its own need to fight. But the connection was tight, and put a strain on both the programming, which was constantly having to reevaluate behavior, and on me. It was in the middle of my first fight - it didn’t even take that long - when all that tension broke, and the neural handshake managed to actually damage my temporal lobes. Now I'm mostly incapable of controlling or actively accessing that ego but when it shows it comes as a surprise and in the form of an uncontrollable rage fit. And it happens all the time, especially when the Other Guy and I are hooked up together.”

"So you've got a few problems with control,” Steve replied, “But you showed today that you had the sense of mind to step away when you truly needed to. I think this could be a valuable asset."

"You don't seem to understand," Bruce interrupted, "The Other Guy and I are one. I can't separate myself from him, and I can't control the Jaeger when we're connected. Everything that happens as a result of us being out in the field is because I couldn't handle the stress of piloting a Jaeger with a robot copilot! I was responsible for Anchorage!" Bruce shouted finally, standing up and slamming his fists against the table. "Don't you get it? Anchorage fell because I couldn't control my Goddamned Jaeger! Me and the Other Guy, we killed your friends, Steve! We killed all those students and pilots and the Jaeger didn't think anything of it! It was just another day on the job for him!"

Bruce paused and stepped away, breathing hard. He had a bewildered expression on his face, like he didn't know where that had come from, and he scraped his hands over his eyes to clear them of their haziness. Steve waited patiently while Bruce found himself again, pacing back and forth before finally looking back up at him. Steve made sure to school his face into something calm, knowing that Bruce didn't need anything but assurance from him. The news that the Hulk had been the one to destroy the Anchorage shatterdome while Peggy worked there was new information, but it was a tragedy he had come to terms with and his teammate's apparent guilt and regret didn't change that.

Peggy was gone like thousands before her and more still, and Steve had done his mourning. But Bruce's enhancements had saved Steve's life today despite his terrible history and lack of control, and Steve considered that far more important. It was clear Bruce carried the guilt over the accident (and it had been an uncontrollable accident, of this Steve was sure) and Steve found he could hold no grudge over this news. Steve held Bruce's gaze as steadily as he could, choosing the words he spoke next very carefully, needing to get this point across.

"Bruce, I can understand your hesitance to get back in the Jaeger, but you are a part of him in the same way he's a part of you. The Jaeger I watched operate in the field today, that was an honorable and talented pilot no matter who he was working with. You fought the Kaiju into submission, and then you recognized me and you even responded to Tony and shut down the Jaeger on your own. You're not just a machine for killing. Whatever you think your Jaeger forced on you, you instilled something better in it."

Bruce hesitated, but Steve held his gaze firm. "You know," Bruce said, and removed his glasses to wipe them on a cloth he pulled from his pocket, "Even knowing that about me, you're willing to say that we're not a monster?"

"You're a Ranger, Bruce, I know that," Steve replied quickly, "First and foremost. Whatever you want to believe after that is up to you. And you know that if you ever want to continue piloting, then I am happy to have you on my team. Tony would probably appreciate knowing his AI still works, anyway."

A smile cracked across Bruce's face, and he moved towards the door slowly. There was a pin pad on each side, Steve realized, and Bruce was slowly entering the code he only occasionally knew. The door opened with a quiet whoosh, and Steve moved quickly to meet the man at the door.

"If it's all the same to you, I think I'd like to stay in here for a while," Bruce responded quietly, leaning against the doorframe that had opened for him, "But you can tell Tony that if he needs us for that plan of his, I would be happy to offer our help."

That said, Bruce extended a hand to Steve, who took it gratefully and shook it hard.


	14. Chapter 14

The call to the labs came around three in the morning less than a week later. Tony was on the verge of buzzing with energy as he nearly bounced around the labs, dripping coffee from his overfull mug as he went from station to station working out equations and configuring equipment as he went. Jane and Betty stood in the middle of the room, looking more or less amused, while Marshall Fury stood shock still against the far wall. He looked alert and unhappy, which put Steve a little on edge even around the fogginess of having just woken up. He scratched at his neck and tried vainly to fix his bedhead while the others scattered themselves around the room. Rhodes looked more or less put together, as though he'd done a wake-up routine before heading down to the labs. Clint looked about like Steve felt, with his hair completely askew and his eyes barely open as they tried to blink away the sleep. Sam looked more prepared, although not by much. He was suppressing a yawn with the back of a fist as he stretched out muscles that had not yet woken up. Natasha perhaps looked the worst, and it made Steve feel considerably better about the woman to know that she clearly slept wild, with matted hair that stuck out on all sides but mostly to the left. She had a smear of lipstick still across her face where she might have forgotten to remove it the previous night, but it was the inside-out uniform top that really made Steve appreciate the outfit. She quashed his rising laughter with a glare when she caught him staring, but he allowed the thought to rest on his mind as he turned most of his attention to the three at the center of the room.

"The plan's been modified," Tony announced as soon as it seemed like everybody was paying attention. "For the most part, we're going to be moving forward with the same plan but there are a few key distinctions that are going to be vital to the success of the entire mission. As we know, Odin Fury is no longer available as a viable option either as a heavy hitter or as our delivery man to get the portal closed. This is the biggest issue on our workaround, but I've come up with a solution that I think will work, especially since we've recently gained access to the Hulk as part of our armada."

Tony moved to the same set of screens they had accessed almost a week ago, and pulled up a set of familiar blueprints. There were five Jaegers available on the screen now, and Tony pulled up the one that, last they had spoken, had been called the War Iron Mark II. In the blink of an eye Tony had pulled up the Conn Pod region of the Jaeger and began talked animatedly again. "So what I've done is moved any of the necessary equipment into the Mark II, and that will be the system we use to access the Breach and beyond. Construction has already started but there have been some interesting changes to the system since you guys last saw it that will help ensure that the mission goes well."

"Where is the bomb?" Steve asked, looking everywhere within the plans for what could be a detonating piece. Unlike when they had the bomb planned for the Odin Fury, there was no extraneous piece on the Mark II that could be clearly delineated as a bomb or that clearly looked as though it could be removed.

"That's the beauty of it!" Tony shouted in response, and clicked an area of the slide that brought up a zoomed in piece. Steve still couldn't tell what it was, but Tony continued, unperturbed. "It's an entirely removable compartment of the Jaeger. See, this back hatch can be removed remotely and then driven to the point of contact, allowing the pilots to remain within the safe zone of the Breach while also directing the bomb to its final location. And in case of any sort of failure, the smaller pod is also operable by a pilot. It allows for the difficult job to be performed by a single Jaeger, leaving the others available to ensure that no Kaiju can breach the Breach - ha! Why has nobody done that yet? - while we move forward with the final stages in the plan. This way we can even confirm that the portal gets destroyed if the Jaeger doesn't survive or if the electronics fail - not that they will, of course, because they're mine."

"In order to go through with this, Stark, you know that you'll need a Jaeger pilot who is actually capable of piloting a Jaeger on its own, in case you're unable to remain in Conn Pod," Marshall Fury called from behind them, and Tony conceded the point with a shrugging nod. Fury looked directly to Steve, who felt the stare even though he hadn't been directly looking at the Marshall. Fury's intentions in the statement were clear, although nobody else in the room seemed to notice the direction he was leading them - or if they did, they were excellent at playing dumb about it. Steve didn't know why Fury wanted him to copilot with Tony in the primary Jaeger so badly, but it wasn't his place to tell the man no. And it made sense to Steve, who did know that he was the only pilot that had successfully piloted a Jaeger alone. He was not eager to do so again, but if it meant the end of the war he was willing to do so. The chances seemed low, anyway, and Steve's biggest hesitation was making the decision to enter the drift alongside Tony Stark.

Steve stepped forward, knowing instinctively that this move had been inevitable even before Tony had announced his plan. "I will do it," he announced.

"Oh no," Tony responded immediately, rushing forward as though to stop Steve physically. They stood face to face for a moment, each trying to stare the other down, before Tony turned to Fury. "I am not piloting a Jaeger with this man. My tech is delicate, hardly like the old Jaegers, there's no way the Captain will be able to work it right."

"That's what the neural handshake is for, Stark," Fury shot back, almost mockingly, "Besides, you just agreed that we needed a pilot who could work a Jaeger on its own. Unless you want to risk another Hulk, you'll need a pilot who can work an already existing Jaeger scheme. You know as well as I do that Captain Rogers is the only suitable man for this job."

Tony huffed, looking for something to say and turning to Rhodes for help. The man was near the back of the gathered crowd, and seemed to be accepting the reassignment gracefully. He looked right at Tony, telling the man more than Steve could read but it was apparent that it meant for Tony to stand down. Tony refused with a shake of his head, as apparent to Steve, and spoke again. "Rhodey is totally capable as a single pilot, I'll stay with him for the mission, as it's going to go without a hitch anyway."

"Lt. Colonel Rhodes has never piloted alone in the field and we're not certain what sort of circumstances would allow the transition or not. Captain Rogers piloted the Howling Commando alone in the past, and has already proven himself capable."

"And he fell unconscious while doing it!" Tony shouted, gesturing vaguely at Steve. Steve tried not to appear offended, but Tony's adamant refusal to pilot with him was beginning to make him uncomfortable. He knew he wasn't eager to go through the neural handshake with Tony, either (two weeks ago he didn't even want a normal handshake!), but Tony's almost childish refusal was both grating to his nerves and insulting to his abilities as a pilot.

"Besides," Fury cut in, halting Tony's tantrum in its place. The man was sporting a grin like he had been waiting to do this for a time, and Steve did not doubt that he had. "We've already arranged a replacement pilot for Lt. Colonel Rhodes while you were down here working on your strategy. Rhodes will be running backup in War Iron alongside Striker Delta and the Hulk for the duration of this mission."

"She's actually decided to rename the Jaeger Warbird Victor while she's in it, and I agreed with her," Rhodes interrupted, only glancing at Tony when the other man made a noise of distress over his talking, "And she's an old friend from the Air Force. She and I have practiced and piloted together before, and she volunteered to fly in to aid in this mission." After speaking, Rhodes returned to parade rest but his smirk didn't waiver. Steve couldn't help but be impressed with the man, who he was beginning to realize put up with Tony's antics more than anybody else but could give back just as good as he received. Steve made a personal note to make a point to meet his old friend, who would make an excellent ally and teammate if she was anything like Rhodes.

"Colonel Danvers is an asset to this team, and was eager to join," Fury added, still smirking. "She sends her regards, Rogers, and says she remembers you from the campaign posters and visitations. She'll be copiloting alongside Lt. Colonel Rhodes until further notice." Steve nodded, glad that he already seemed to have a rapport with the woman. The name wasn't familiar to him, but it had been ten years since he'd been involved in the military and she could have easily come afterwards.

Tony made another noise of distress, although at this point most of the others were ignoring him.

"Maybe I'm willing to pilot the Jaeger on my own," he insisted finally, "I've been working on a new piloting system that's been perfected after Bruce's mishap, it's a matter I'm illing to risk for the sake of this mission and I'm sure Sam still wants to pilot American Falcon with Steve - "

 

"Lieutenant Wilson has spoken with me and has agreed to sit on the bench for this one unless absolutely necessary. We’re only sending in highly experienced pilots in Jaegers we can trust for this, Tony, and Captain Rogers is your best candidate for a copilot."

 

"Look," Tony tried again, "I really just need to be dropped into the Breach. I could design a mini-Jaeger for that, have somebody carry and drop it in when we get there. I can really handle it all on my own and I don't need an additional pilot that I'm probably not even compatible with - "

 

"We'll need the full-size Jaeger to ensure safety all the way to the core of the Breach," Steve cut in, tired of hearing Tony's excuses, "And the others will be ensuring the safety of this Jaeger. We can't afford to risk anybody while they're supposed to be focusing on defense by burdening them with an extra load like a 'mini-Jaeger,' especially if it can be prevented. I have volunteered to copilot this main Jaeger, and I intend to do so."

 

"Cap," Tony turned to him, disbelieving, "You were the one that said you'd never get in a drive suit near me, much less enter the neural handshake with me. You can't pretend you've just found your righteous way and are willing to try to get around our clear incompatibility for the sake of truth, love, and justice."

 

"Make fun of it as you will," Steve countered, "But there are more important things here than personal feelings and perfect compatibility. We've gotten along well enough lately that I feel we will be able to respectably pilot whatever Jaeger you design. We're getting in the Conn Pod together, Stark, and I expect you to be prepared to meet me in the drift. I will ensure that we are compatible when the time comes." He knew he and Tony were walking on eggshells, especially since they hadn't fought in the past few days, but for Tony to prefer working alone over working with Steve was hurtful and was wearing Steve's patience thin. Especially since Tony seemed more eager to get in his own Jaeger with the same faulty systems that Bruce had been avoiding for six years. They had all confirmed that the systems were indeed better now, but did Tony dislike Steve so much that he refused to work with the man in favor of risking the mission as well as his own sanity?

 

"Fine," Tony said after a moment, "But only to ensure the success of this mission." His face soured, and he looked like he was itching to cross his arms in a pout but was barely managing to resist the temptation. Steve thanked personal victories and turned to Fury, who looked smug as he made eye contact with Steve.

 

"Then our orders are established," Steve said, loud and firm enough for everybody to know that he was addressing the team as well as the Marshall. "We await the completed construction of the Mark II and then move as a team into the Breach zone so that Tony and I can open the portal and deliver the bomb. You've got an estimated one month until completion, I want everybody in simulations when you're not on active duty. I will be passing this information on to Doctor Banner, who I hope will be joining us in the simulations and I expect the same level of teamwork as we witnessed on the field. Team dismissed."

 

There were a few grumbles and even more mumbling as the small team disbursed, intentions to return to bed clear with everybody. Steve remained behind, standing stock still under the scrutiny of Marshall Fury and he watched him until the others (except for the three doctors and Steve) had all disappeared. Fury gave Steve a nod as he turned to leave, and Steve gave a quick salute to the retreating figure before turning to Tony.

 

"Look," he snapped, stepping into Tony's space and dropping his voice low, "I know we've had a number of bad encounters with each other, and I know what I said earlier. But if this is our only chance to make this work then we need to learn to get along, and quickly. I'm sorry I'm not the partner you wanted, but there isn't much choice in the matter here and I'd like to make this as easy as possible."

 

"I'm only doing this because otherwise Fury isn't going to let me pilot my own Goddamned Jaeger," Tony replied, jerking his body back away from Steve. "And it doesn't change the fact that you were the one who said we'd never be compatible. So excuse me if I'm a little weary of the man who told me I only bring my copilots down."

 

Every bit of fight left Steve as he was reminded of his earlier transgressions, and he deflated as Tony tried to glare him down. "That wasn't what I meant when I said that, Tony," he said quietly, "And it wasn't true anyway. I've actually been meaning to talk to you about what you said in the gym that day, because you were right."

 

It was a discussion that he'd been meaning to have with Tony for a week but hadn't found the right time or place to do so, and if doing it on the spot when they were a month away from what could very easily be their last mission was his only chance, then he was going to take it.

 

"Of course I was right," Tony responded easily, waving Steve's confession away with a casual swipe of his hand, "I'm always right about - wait, right about what?"

 

It had taken a moment, but Tony's double take had Steve naturally grinning, and he tried to recall exactly what the man had said. "You told me that you never knew what you'd have to be willing to do on the battlefield, or what you might have to know when you're out there. You also told me that I might be a little stuck in my ways, and you were right about all of those things. I was scared, mostly because I didn't understand what you were trying to do on the field, and because I didn't know how to control it. But you were doing what you thought was best, even if it put you in danger, even if it wasn't what was best in the end, and you stuck to that. It was an admirable thing to do, Tony. I've seen it in other men, and I saw it again when we fought that last Kaiju. And I just wanted to let you know that you were right then, and I'm willing to listen now, especially if it means we can stop the Kaiju War once and for all."

 

If Steve didn't know Tony's character any better, he might have suspected that the man was about to cry. Tony was stock still, staring at Steve as though he didn't know what to say or make of the man. It only lasted a minute, however, before Tony was shrugging in a forced causality and wearing another grin. "I might have been acting out a little," he admitted in exchange, "Since I was a little jealous that they'd found the Captain Rogers and given him my team. You know, the usual replaced by a rockstar business, you understand."

 

Steve chuckled, because he did understand a little, even if he had never experienced it himself. There had been plenty of Rangers who had not taken to stardom very well when he had first started out, and those that took to it too well. And he'd only recently considered the implications of having your team taken from you and given to another Ranger to lead.

 

"I'm not quite sure Fury ever considered this your team, Stark," Steve replied, matching Tony's casual stance and attitude without a fault.

 

"It's always been my team, Cap! I fund it and fight on it and make all the plans, Fury just acts like he's in charge!"

 

"Well," Steve tried, forcing his voice around the chuckling at Tony's faked outrage, "Maybe I'll let you co-lead for this mission then."

 

"Maybe you could go co-lead-slash-flirt somewhere other than our lab space," Jane suggested loudly, glaring at them over the top of the laptop she had open. Steve flushed at having been caught and Tony stuck out his tongue, which was only met with a more pointed look from the brunette.

 

"Okay, okay," Tony conceded, both hands up, "I want to show Steve the layout space for the Avenger, anyway."

 

"The Avenger?" Steve asked, following Tony as he grabbed his things and headed out the lab doors. Tony shot him a smirk and gestured in the direction of the hangar.

 

"Yeah, I thought the Mark II needed a cool name, so I'm going to go with the Avenger. Since we can't exactly save the world from all the damage the Kaiju have done already, I thought there was a little more justice in avenging it, instead."

 

Steve felt himself smile, a broad, genuine smile that he hadn't truly felt in what seemed like years as he watched Tony congratulate himself on the title. He hadn't expected this feeling to ever really come back, but now that everything seemed to be coming together smoothly, it was a feeling he gladly embraced.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Steve and Tony didn't talk much after that night. The first week went by without even a Kaiju sighting, and most of the pilots spent their free time training in the gyms and simulators. Steve stuck mostly to the gym, because his new copilot was almost constantly busy with the design and construction of the Avenger - the name was growing on him, loathe to admit it as he was - and unavailable for training. Steve had tried a few rounds in the simulations but he just couldn't seem to keep his mind on the training and had actually managed to fail one of the missions before giving up on those. Marshall Fury had given him a skeptical glare as he'd left following that failure, but he seemed to understand Steve's stressful anticipation and didn't pursue the matter. Nobody had approached him on the unsuccessful simulation yet, so Steve assumed those that had witnessed it had kept quiet. He'd stuck to the gyms since then, knowing that destroying a punching bag took considerably less concentration than he could muster and more mindless force than he needed to exert.

"If you actually destroy that, Marshall Fury isn't going to let you in here, either," Natasha called from the gym’s doorway in the middle of one of Steve's sets one evening, and he paused and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he turned to look at her. She was smirking, but just barely, so Steve knew she wasn’t there for any bad news. He beckoned her to join him on the mat.

"I didn't know he was keeping me out of the sims," Steve replied, returning her faint smirk and glancing up at her through the sweat gathered on his brow. "But I guess that's for the better with my last performance."

Natasha did join him, moving fluidly into the empty space (and Steve didn't need to ask how it was that Striker Delta kept its agility - both Natasha and Clint moved like cats) and perched herself on one of the beams near Steve's punching bag. "I think if the Marshall hadn't already known you were qualified for this job, he would have taken you off the team for that spectacular performance. Nobody's failed that badly since Clint decided he wanted to manage a flying Jaeger."

Steve dropped his smirk, but kept the humor in his voice. "I didn't know we had flying Jaegers. I also didn't know my score was public knowledge."

"We don't," Natasha replied quickly, "And it's not." She didn't indicate that she would elaborate any further, but it didn’t really surprise Steve. Natasha usually had very little to say, and seemed to prefer keeping her information to herself. Steve couldn’t fault her.

"So what brings you down here?" Steve asked, seeking casualness as best as he could, "Did Fury send you to try and rescue his equipment?"

"Hardly," Natasha answered, and hopped down from the beam to step closer to Steve. "I did a little research on your file. To be honest, I've been following your status for quite some time now."

"Why is that?" Steve asked carefully, watching Natasha for a reaction. She wasn't looking at him anymore, choosing instead to inspect her nails quietly.

"I might have had other motivations," she uttered quietly, but then went silent. She sat down again, but this time it was to sink to the floor against the nearest wall. Natasha stared hard at her hands as she slid down the mirrors nailed into the walls, and Steve waited patiently for her to speak.

"James Barnes and I studied together at the Anchorage Jaeger Academy, before you were enlisted," Natasha said, breaking their silence and leveling Steve with a hard look. "He and I were perfectly compatible, even though we had only met there at the academy. He had just the right sort of fight for me, and I never put up with any of his shit. We ran through at least twenty simulations together, and when the next Mark in Jaegers were released James and I were the first in line and all but guaranteed a spot on one of them."

Steve wanted to talk, wanted to apologize or something to this woman sitting in front of him. He'd vaguely known of Bucky's past in the academy, had seen flashes of it while they were in the drift, but hadn't known the whole history. Bucky had never mentioned that there had been another pilot for him - and why should he, when everything he had ever done had been to ensure that Steve stayed alive, stayed happy, even at the expense of his own life? Steve sucked in a hard breath at the thought but Natasha continued speaking before he could say a word.

"But there was one thing James never stopped talking about in all that time we trained together, and that was you. You were his brother, his best friend, and your future - the one you two had together, whether it involved others or not - was what kept him fighting even when we went through rough times at the academy. We spent three years training together, were even given a Jaeger, and James’s first thought in the drift was always about you. He wouldn't have wanted you to know, and I don't think he meant to show me, but it was always there in the forefront of his mind." Natasha tapped her forehead and gave Steve a knowing look. Steve flushed, because he knew that there had occasionally been rumors regarding his and Bucky’s devotion to each other.  Natasha’s words didn’t feel like an accusation, there was an implication there even so.

“It wasn’t like that,” Steve explained, avoiding any defensive tone, and Natasha nodded but didn’t look offended or rebuffed.

“I know,” she replied easily, “But that doesn’t mean you didn’t mean the world to him.”

She took a deep breath this time, visibly steeling herself for what she meant to say next. She looked away from Steve as she did so, curling around her bent legs and shrinking into herself. "And then you showed up at the Academy, and you were actually pilot worthy, and James dropped everything so he could be with you. As soon as you started your training together James was moved from the rest of the Academy and you were accelerated through the program so that we never saw each other again. I managed to find another copilot that was compatible enough with me but it was never quite the same. Finding Clint was a blessing that took me eight years to do, and even then it was only after I knew that we had lost James forever."

"Lt. Romanov - " Steve tried, but Natasha silenced him with a look.

"It's Natasha," she insisted, and Steve watched her features soften a little in the correction before she turned back to face her feet.

"Natasha," Steve tried again, "I'm sorry - "

"I'm not," she cut him off again, "The Howling Commando was one of the most successful Jaegers in history. There was no team better than the two of you, and there may not be a better team ever again. Besides, James got to pilot with you, with his brother. It's the least I can do for him to make sure you stay safe even now that he's gone."

Steve hn'd thoughtfully. "I wish I could say the same for you," he mused eventually, "But Bucky never spoke of his other copilots."

"That's because I threatened him not to. I'm Russian, Steve. I've got more history and secrets than I know what to do with; I don't need somebody who's been in my head like James had been spilling all my thoughts to their other copilots. So when he left I threatened him not to think about me anymore, and he didn't. I have to admit, even so many years later I'm impressed. I guess you never know who you're going to connect with in the drift."

Steve nodded once, thoughtfully, but didn't allow himself to dwell too much on what Natasha had said.

"I think you might be surprised what you're going to find in the drift," Natasha reiterated while he considered all that she had said, emphasising the indication that she meant Steve specifically and wrapping her hands more tightly with the bandages that she brought in with her. She stood, stretching long torso and endless legs only long enough for Steve to wonder what she was doing before lifting her fists to gesture towards him.

"I'm not sure I follow," Steve confessed, but trailed behind Natasha as she moved towards the sparring mats.

"We're going to spar," she said dumbly, staring at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"No," Steve said quickly, "I got that, I'm just not sure I follow you about the drift."

Natasha nodded, lifting her fists again as Steve entered the sparring circle. "You have a new partner, yes?" she asked, taking a practice jab in his direction while he stretched his arms. When he nodded, she continued. "I'm just saying that you might find your way in the drift with your new partner. Or that it might be your last chance. I would hate to see another of those wasted."

Steve took a moment to process Natasha's unexpected but insightful advice, allowing their sparring session to start before speaking again. "Do you think there's greater meaning in the chance Tony and I have been given to meet in the drift?" he asked as he dodged one of her actual punches, ducking back and under in order to try to catch her in the side.

Natasha easily avoided his counter-swipe, gracefully pulling herself to the opposite side. "I don't believe in greater meaning," she answered effortlessly as she swept a leg around to knock Steve back a few feet with the force of a blow to his side. He let out an oof as he stumbled back, automatically clinging to his hurt flank, but maintained his balance and deflected her next kick aimed towards his chest. He recovered as she regained her balance, stepping back into their sparring circle in order to crowd into Natasha's space in hopes of diminishing her range of movement. Natasha was not impressed, and responded by moving her own attacks towards Steve's feet. As soon as she hit the ground, she swung around to catch Steve's ankles. Steve hit the ground hard, but rolled himself with one of his shoulders and came back up with an agility he thought Natasha might appreciate.

It threw the redhead off guard, because Steve's next move - a jab towards Natasha's collar bone that might cripple her in a real combat situation - managed to nail her right where Steve intended it, and it was Natasha's turn to stumble away with an outcry and a screaming clavicle. She rolled her shoulder to shake off the stinging (which Steve knew would wear into numbness), and let out a huff of indignation. Steve smirked at her and repositioned himself while she took just a moment to recover her own stance, and they threw themselves at each other with a renewed determination.

Steve caught Natasha's wrist just in time as she attempted to land another punch around his face, and angled her to flip her onto the mat. She responded by sticking out her feet as she landed and planting them hard, twisting Steve's own arm so that he was forced to let go of her wrist, and she reached to grasp his elbow to force him to his knees.

Steve allowed his body to go heavy, dragging Natasha to the ground with him and wrapping his free arm around her neck. Her grip on his arm loosened as she struggled to free herself from the headlock Steve had forced on her, banging her fists against his arm and pulling on the skin to no avail.

"What did you mean then?" Steve asked into her hair, pulling at an angle that would force Natasha to give up faster. She didn't answer, choosing instead to continue flailing against Steve's solid grip and managing only to leave red welts on his arms and less breath in her lungs. With one final heave Natasha finally pressed her feet back into the ground, gaining minimal leverage which she used to throw herself and Steve into the hard mat. She then followed with an elbow into Steve's already bruised ribs, to which Steve let out a grunt and pulled his arm back to cover the injury. Natasha used the chance to pull herself free and stand back up, taking deep breaths of air and recovering focus as quickly as she could. Steve also stood, but he couldn't block her next move when it came. She gave a running start towards him, jumping at the last minute as Steve threw his hands up to protect his face and wrapping one thigh around his neck while locking it with the other around his uninjured side.

She threw him to the ground with the force of her legs, catching him between her thighs as his body hit the floor and he waved in conceit. "I'm just saying that you're not the only one who's noticed the way you've been interacting lately, and it may be worth looking into. It would be a waste to squander the chance when we have all of this time ahead of us before our final mission."

Natasha released Steve so the two of them could stand, stretching their tired muscles and wiping dirt and sweat from themselves from the fight. "I think I get it," Steve said slowly, thinking about the chances he'd been given to work with Tony outside of their Jaegers. Those chances had been few and far in between, and Steve had not even thought about the idea of sharing a neural handshake before they set out on their mission, much less express an interest to Tony. Now that he was thinking about it, however, the importance of having the experience and knowing how the other worked in the drift seemed like it should be a top priority for Steve. "I think I'll go talk to Tony about it," he added pensively, wiping the last of the sweat from his face and beginning to plan his meeting.

"Good boy," Natasha answered, patting him once on the arm before gently nudging Steve towards the gym's exit. Steve let her, more distracted now by the speech he was mentally preparing for Tony. Natasha noticed but didn't comment, opting for a fond smirk as she shuffled the blond out the door. "Don't come back until you've spoken with him," she threatened, and he gave a half-hearted wave as she then proceeded to slam the gym's door in his face.

Tony was, unsurprisingly, down in his labs alongside Betty and Jane, discussing their latest finds and looking quite heated in the debate. Steve knocked once gently before stepping back to wait patiently where they could clearly see him through the glass of the labs doors. Jane looked first, shooting Steve a look that felt like daggers through the window before poking Tony hard and gesturing back to where Steve was standing.

Steve found he couldn't really do anything except wave sheepishly, and waited for Tony to come forward.

"Stevie!" he shouted as the lab door opened, and Tony gestured for Steve to come inside, "We were just having a discussion - "

"Argument," Betty cut in quickly, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay, _argument_ over some of the neural connections."

"Steve, you should talk some sense into this man," Jane called moving towards them with a determination in her stride, "Tell him that it's a ridiculous idea to try to reconnect - "

"And we're going to have our conversation outside," Tony corrected, quickly steering Steve away from the two women (and Jane's indignant glare as Tony rounded him away from her).

"Is that a conversation we should be having?" Steve asked as he was led into the hallway outside the labs. Tony stared pensively at Steve for a moment before turning to Jane's angry face through the glass and shaking his head.

"It's not that important. She's just really determined to be right."

"And what if she is right?" Steve verified, but Tony's face turned sour as he turned to him indignantly.

"Just trust me on this one. Jane's just on one of her usual programming tirades. Give her an hour of working through the issue and she'll be swayed, I promise."

Steve didn't really believe Tony, but arguing with the man was not why he had come down to the labs. He waited a moment to see if Tony would elaborate on the argument any further before deciding to proceed with his original plan.

"I stopped by because I had an issue I wanted to bring up with you." he said quietly, so that the two women on the other side of the glass could not hear their topic of conversation. He doubted it would ultimately be very effective even through the glass (Steve could hear them arguing down the hall), but it was worth a try. Now that he was going through this plan Natasha had forced him to cook up, it felt trite and ridiculous. He hoped it made more sense once he had finally put it into words..

"Fire away, Cap, I'm all ears," Tony replied confidently, bracing an arm against the doorframe.

Steve watched Betty and Jane carefully before licking his lips and looking back down to Tony. "I just noticed that we haven't really interacted within a Jaeger environment yet. I was wondering if we were going to get the chance to do that before we have to take the Avenger out, or if we're going to rely on that first piloting session to work out all the kinks."

"That's a valid question," Tony noted, and crossed his arms thoughtfully. "I hadn't done any planning on when we'd actually get in the Jaeger. I guess I could focus on getting the Conn Pod connected and powered first so that we can start up the system and run a handshake check. That makes sense now that you've mentioned it, I'm kind of surprised."

"Surprised that I mentioned it, or surprised that I thought of it?" Steve said, crossing his own arms in an imitation of intimidation but hardly resisting the smirk. Tony's face eased into a grin in return as he leaned back against the doorframe.

"A little of both. But don't get your panties in a twist, Cap, I mostly just expected you to stick to the gyms while we got the systems up."

"I might have already abused the gyms and been kicked out," Steve admitted, looking away. He rubbed one of his arms self consciously while Tony began laughing, a low bellow at Steve's obvious embarrassment at having overdone his routine.

"Then I guess I'll have to hurry with the Conn Pod," he managed to reply through heaving gasps of air and his continuing rumbling laughter. Steve couldn't help but laugh a little himself, even at his own expense. "Give me a few weeks to get it together, Steve. I'll let you know as soon as we have something to work with."

Steve nodded, now eager at the prospect of getting in the Jaeger's main systems with Tony in only a few weeks' time. He felt more confident now that Natasha had not been wrong when she said there was something different about Steve and Tony's upcoming partnership. Steve could honestly not have asked for a better copilot than Sam, but there was just something about the upcoming Jaeger that Steve could just not place.

"Thanks, Tony," he said, clasping Tony by the shoulders in appreciation and ignoring the surprised expression that crossed Tony's face before it relaxed into something more neutral. He gave one of the shoulders a proprietary pat before letting go, turning back down the lab halls with the intention of finding Natasha and sharing his news. He also chose to ignore the way Tony’s hands grasped at the same spots as Steve walked away, unconsciously filing the information alongside the flutter Steve was feeling in his stomach. They were issues he would wait to address with the brunet, if they ever came up at all. Steve thought they might in the drift, but it was a possibility he wasn’t going to count on.

"No problem," Tony called only after Steve was halfway down the hall, and Steve successfully resisted the urge to follow his gut and turn back. He had to share with Natasha, and then maybe he'd be allowed back into the gym to work through the fluttery feelings.


	16. Chapter 16

The Conn Pod's preparation took about two weeks alongside production of the arc reactor necessary to power it, although production of the rest of the Jaeger had been halted in favor of getting the neural handshake tests out of the way. Steve found himself growing more and more eager to see the Avenger over the course of the two weeks, and did his best to spy on the production line whenever he got the chance. These chances were few and far in between, however, and by the time he was able to get a good look, Tony was approaching him for a simulation run.

"She's all ready for the test flight, Cap," he told Steve as the blond made his way through the hangar while trying not to draw attention to himself. Steve cursed his distinctive appearance, but was glad he was finally going to be able to see his new Jaeger - at least the upper half of it. Steve did his best to contain his excitement as he followed Tony to their loading bay, but he was practically buzzing with energy, and Tony seemed to be of the same mindset, walking at a faster speed than normal and just barely hiding his smile behind his more regular smirk.

Steve caught sight of the view portal first, the eyes of the Jaeger staring at them as they approached the giant machine. He could feel himself staring as the Jaeger stared back at him, the blue of its windows almost glowing with the arc reactor's energy. It was only with a conscious effort that Steve managed to keep from gaping at the machine in front of him. Its appearance was similar to War Iron's but it was clearly going to be a slimmer, much sleeker design just based on the helmet, which was thin and glowed a beautiful hot rod red in the light of the Shatterdome. Steve thought the color might be a bit ostentatious for their mission but couldn't argue how smart it made the entire Jaeger seem. The Avenger's eyes glared back at Steve as though challenging him to comment on the color, and Steve couldn't help but notice that they seemed particularly well enforced, and that much of the glowing he had seen earlier had been the various reflections of the interior's systems through multiple thick panes of glass.

"Ready to connect her up?" Tony asked behind Steve, standing confidently with his arms crossed as Steve admired his work. Steve responded enthusiastically with a grin, and gestured for Tony to lead the way. "I've got a drive suit all prepped for you, so I'll see you in the Conn Pod," he added quickly, and with a wave passed Steve and headed down one of the side corridors. Steve took the corridor beside it, where Tony had gestured for him, and took a deep breath in anticipation. It was almost concerning how excited he was for this event, but he justified himself with the knowledge that they could be ending the Kaiju War for good. Besides, Steve added to himself, it wasn't every day a man got to try the latest in drive suit technology, or test run the most recent Mark Jaeger, right? Even he could appreciate an attractive piece of technology.

As soon as he was suited up and could see himself, Steve adjusted his top of the line drive suit, simultaneously amused and appalled at the paint job that Tony had approved (and Steve suspected the man might have _designed_ ). It was similar to the suit he'd used when he piloted the Howling Commando, but was considerably less bulky and much lighter. It was also a brighter blue, and had a giant white star painted into his chest, which Steve thought frankly looked downright ridiculous. He intended to say something to Tony as soon as he saw the other man again, but wasn't given the opportunity until they were meeting at the entrance to the Conn Pod.

Steve moved to confront the billionaire with whom he had decided to copilot, but Tony was looking at him with a large grin, nearly laughing. Steve felt his anger return, but noticed that Tony was also sporting something noticeable on the front of his own drive suit.

"Like the reactor?" Tony asked, and Steve flushed as he realized he'd been caught staring at the glowing blue circle in the middle of Tony's chestplate. At Steve's questioning look, Tony tapped lightly on the covering of the light. "It's a mini reactor, and I couldn't help but notice that you seem to like it. It interacts with the reactor within the Avenger, gives me - well, us I guess - better control over all of the systems rather than just the drive functions. It will help us better regulate the signal to open the Breach, and operate the bomb delivery from the Jaeger. I would have made you one too, but they're kind of complicated and person-specific and I didn't really have a lot of time beyond all the actual Jaeger construction. You understand, right? I did take the liberty of giving you something on your drive suit to match, anyway."

Steve scowled, reminded of the gaudy star painted on his own suit. "I would hardly consider them equal," he replied, because he was honestly highly impressed with the tool Tony had created to help work the Avenger. Even if this was just a test run for them in the drift, it was comforting to see the evidence of Tony taking the whole thing so seriously. "But it's fine, I guess." He wasn't quite comfortable walking around in what seemed like the drive suit equivalent of the American flag, but it wasn't like his old costume was much different, and it wasn't like he got much choice anyway. They were about to begin their first test run and their first time in a neural handshake, and Steve knew this needed to happen sooner rather than later.

"You ready to test it out then?" Tony asked, and gestured for Steve to lead the way into the Conn Pod. Steve nodded, and moved onto his platform within the Avengers, seeing Tony follow him behind. The two mounted their feet and took hold of the upper controls together, getting a feel for the new Jaeger. It wasn't all that dissimilar to American Falcon, with a few key changes really being the only glaring differences. The pods were the same shape, used the same platforms and interface boards, but the Avenger's programming was clearly a little more complicated. The menu that came up with Steve accessed the console was considerably more complex than any console he'd used before, but seemed mostly intuitive as he stared at it.

"I've got most of the console memorized, and can pass along the information if I need to," Tony told him, as though he was already reading Steve's mind, so Steve stopping playing with the buttons to his side.

"Beginning Neural Handshake in one minute," Phil called through the speakers, so Steve busied himself with putting on his helmet (which he was relieved to find lacked the same star pattern he feared it might) and making sure he was situated in his stance. A countdown began at ten seconds, and Steve let out a deep breath as he listened to Tony do the same in his own helmet.

There was a flash of light and Steve basked in the familiar feeling of the drift washing over him like a wave. Entering such a place was always a welcome relief to him, because the beginnings were always an empty feeling of weightlessness before the conscience settled in and because to process the information. Steve felt his awareness slowly returning, and he watched as parts of his life passed by him just beyond the limits of the drift. It was always tempting to stop at some of these memories, and Steve had been quietly prodded by Sam a few times during their practice not to go chasing rabbits before they had found each other. Here it was almost the same, but the feeling within the drift was slightly different and Steve instead felt himself being pulled forward rather than being tempted to sidetrack.

It was startling, then, to suddenly come upon a scene that he had not been following. A more thorough inspection actually revealed a space with which Steve was not familiar, and he had a halting moment of panic before he realized that he could sense Tony within the same space as well. Knowing this eased his mind a little, and he inspected the space to find that it seemed to be a bedroom, overlooking a part of Los Angeles that Steve had never seen and only recognized for the landmarks he recognized from the Shatterdome. He spotted Tony, too, but instead of the grown man he had seen outside the drift moments ago, there was instead a much younger version of the man standing in front of him, staring out the window. Steve stepped forward, moving to touch Tony but decided against it when he spotted the scowl on the boy's face, and his twitching fingers. Looking more closely, Steve realized that the fingers weren't twitching but were instead working a piece of machinery, bending smaller pieces of metal and screwing in joints. Steve couldn't tell what the machine was, but watching Tony's nimble fingers fly over the work like they were machines themselves was fascinating and impressive. Even scowling and muttering as he was, young Tony gave off an air of genius that Steve felt humbled by as he watched the man work more.

But Tony didn't seem to be impressing himself. He continued to stare out the window, muttering words Steve couldn't understand from where he stood and brow furrowing occasionally. Steve followed the man's line of sight, and almost reeled back as he found what Tony was watching beyond the window. It was almost surreal to catch the scene, because Steve remembered it like it had not been nearly fifteen years ago. Just beyond the harbor there was a great battle happening over the water. A terrible Kaiju was screaming, swinging claws and throwing around its sword-like beak in an attempt to fell the Jaeger it fought. The Howling Commando, however, was clearly beyond the skill of the Kaiju (it was actually Daggermouth, Steve reminded himself) and was winning the fight easily. Steve recalled the battle taking less time than usual, and he and Bucky had celebrated later that night with too much alcohol and a lot of bad movies. Steve smiled fondly at his own memory of the fight, but Tony let out a string of curses and drew Steve back into drift’s replaying scene.

"Fuck!" he was shouting, and quickly shoved his thumb against wet lips. When he pulled it out again, Steve noticed the blood of a fresh cut, and caught sight of the edge of metal that had caught the young genius off guard.

"Fuck!" the young man cursed again, and Steve wished he could step forward to help the man, but firmly reminded himself that it was only a memory and that they needed to return to the drift.

"Tony," Steve called, "Tony, don't chase the rabbit. I need you to focus and come back into the drift."

"Fuck you, Captain Rogers," Tony replied, and Steve was startled into silence. Tony had addressed him but wasn't looking his way, and hadn't returned back to the drift. Then Steve realized the young man was watching the window again, and a moment later was hurling the piece of machinery at the glass. It bounced harmlessly off, not even scratching the window's surface, and fell to the floor uselessly. Tony let out another string of curses but didn't move to pick it up.

"What the hell is your problem?" Steve heard behind him, and whirled around to see who had spoken. The familiar face of Howard Stark filled Steve's vision, as the man wasn't standing two feet away from where Steve had appeared in the memory. Steve had never actually met Howard Stark but his name and face were synonymous with the Jaeger technology, and Steve had seen the man speak or present many times during his career as a Ranger. His past self would actually be meeting Howard after this battle, Steve remembered vaguely, but the man looked considerably less happy now. "You address Captain Rogers with nothing less than respect! He's ten times the pilot you are, and he's out there doing something useful! We're supposed to be heading for the shelters and here you are, right in the window messing around with who knows what and endangering everybody waiting for you!"

"I'm coming, sorry," Young Tony sighed, and kicked the machinery he had left lying on the ground half-heartedly before turning to follow his father. Steve turned to watch him more closely as Howard disappeared back through the door, and Tony hesitated at the window for just a moment more.

"Ten times the pilot, huh?" he asked the window, and softly placed his hand against the glass where he had previously tried to break it. But he didn't say anything else, simply let out a cynical huff of laughter instead. He dragged his fingers gently across the glass across the battle blocks away, before he finally turned fully to follow his father to their shelter.

"That's not true, Tony, you know it isn't," Steve insisted to Tony's retreating back, but the younger version did not respond. The room did grow hazy, however, and Steve was relieved to find himself settling comfortably back into the drift, the unfamiliar presence of Tony's awareness hovering like a memory in the back of his mind.

_I didn't really intend for you to see that, Cap,_ Tony told him through the drift, _Not exactly the most flattering picture of me._

Steve would have snorted, if they weren't in the drift. _It doesn't surprise me, Stark.You always seemed to have a natural dislike of me, at least now I can kind of understand why._

Confusion filtered through their connection, as though Tony were projecting it. _Dislike?_ he asked, so faintly within their minds that Steve almost couldn't distinguish the thought, _I've never disliked you, Steve. You saw for yourself. I just..._ Tony's thoughts faded off, and were replaced with the quiet warmth of emotion. Steve vaguely recognized the feeling, and stretched his own mind to try to identify it, or recognize at least where it came from. The feeling seemed to increase as Steve allowed himself to fall further into it, and it was with a sudden, halting breath that Steve finally figured out where he had felt it before. It had been a feeling that had been absent for a long time, a steady sort of warmth that eased the bones and made him feel more at home. He hadn't felt it since he'd been in the Howling Commando with Bucky, and even then it hadn't been so focused or so strong.

There was shock now, in the drift, although Steve could no longer tell his own emotions apart from Tony's. He knew at least part of the surprise came from himself, but there was something in there that told him that Tony was just as surprised that he had let the feeling slip.

_Tony_ \- he began, searching for the best words, the best question to ask. _Tony, how do you actually feel?_ he finally managed, but just as there seemed to be a stirring of thought Steve found himself within a flurry of activity. Almost instantaneously the drift faded from his mind and he found himself staring blankly at the window in front of them, wondering where the connection had gone. Then he realized that everything had gone dark within the Conn Pod, and jumped, bewildered by the sudden turn.

"No!" he shouted out loud, because they had been so close to making that connection that he felt reaching out. The word slipped from his lips almost unconsciously, but he didn't regret it as he heard Tony being to make a noise of surprise as well.

"What happened?" the brunet asked as he threw his helmet off, already moving to disconnect himself from the platform.

"You were chasing a rabbit," Phil replied cooly, "Neither one of you were responding and activity within the Pod had gone dead. We tried calling to you but ended up having to cut power. Everything should be okay except for the connection between the two of you. It seems there isn't actually compatibility after all."

"No," Steve felt himself saying again, "There was a connection. You have to - there's no way to describe it, but we were on the verge of a true connection, perhaps to perfect compatibility. You can't cut us here, Phil."

Tony nodded his agreement, although he hesitated before doing so. His face became determined, as though he had pushed past the fear that Steve had felt upon his discovery in the drift. "It may have taken a few minutes but we are definitely going to make this work, Coulson. You've got to let us try again. And you can't pull the plug again unless one of us is dying or something is on fire."

There was silence from the chiefs in LOCCENT, no sound except for the dull chatter of the J-Tech in the background having an extensive discussion that Steve could not interpret. Steve and Tony waited with bated breath, not daring to look at each other for fear this had been their only chance and was now lost, but Phil finally came back on the line, sounding more tired than he had before.

"Marshall Fury is giving the go ahead, but he says he wants you two back in training first. Tony is going to need to fix the connections on the Avenger before it can be tested again and the Marshall thinks the connection could strongly benefit from a more solid physical connection."

Steve looked at Tony questioningly. "It's not a terrible idea," he conceded, "It will give us the chance to work in the gym together for the synchronization, and it will probably assist with the ghost drifting as well."

Tony did not look entirely convinced, although it may have been because he was already examining the main console for signs of damage. "Sure," he finally agreed, "Start meeting once a day or whatever, I'm game. You know if I find a damaged wire somewhere I have to grease up to get to I'm going to maim Coulson right?"

The mics squeaked as Phil returned with a retort. "And if you had bothered to stay in the drift in the first place, we would not have had to pull the plug on what we thought were going to be drooling corpses."

"Touché," Tony allowed under his breath.


	17. Chapter 17

Their first meeting was scheduled for a few days later, in the form of a sparring session that, after their last, wasn't fueled by their anger towards each other. Steve found himself waiting anxiously for the day to come, spending each day in between with more and more things to occupy his mind. He actively avoided the gyms for fear of a premature encounter with Tony in the location they were supposed to be building their neural connection, which Steve wasn't sure he was quite ready to handle. Already Steve was beginning to feel the effects of ghost drifting with Tony, a sensation he'd previously understood to be a link between two longstanding copilots. To have been sharing time in the drift outside of the Jaeger after only one neural handshake meant something that Steve didn't want to address, and if avoiding Tony during their very brief hiatus was the best way to do so, Steve intended to do it.

Instead he hung around the usual spots for the other residents of the Shatterdome: in the mess hall, in the small memorial garden in one of the rare courtyards, and very occasionally in his own bedroom, where he was guaranteed privacy but was then left with nothing but his thoughts and the residue feeling of Tony's mind gently touching his. Steve avoided the labs in much the same way as the gyms, since Tony intended to go straight back to work on the Avenger after their first neural handshake, and Steve for the most part managed to avoid the brunet. He suspected it had something to do with Tony's desire to avoid him as well, because the few times they had encountered each other, in the mess hall or passing in one of the corridors, they had exchanged little more than pleasantries. Steve preferred it that way, and worked to maintain the status quo until their first session.

He did take the time to do a few things he had been putting off. The first was make a visit to Thor and Loki's room to check up on the brothers. Both had been stabilized but had not shown many signs of recovery. The doctors were confident both Odinsons were going to be just fine, and when Steve finally visited again both Thor and Loki's faces looked calmer than they had previously, both men beginning to return to a healthy color. Jane was visiting when Steve stopped by, so he sat and spoke with her while she kept Thor company. She had been as grateful for his company as he was hers, and had confessed that both Betty and Tony had kicked her out of the labs on multiple occasions because of her worrying. She'd taken to using the free time to visit Thor and try to speak to him through his coma, which was both a good way for her to relax and good company for the recovering men. Jane was also using the time to run her own tests on Thor in search of evidence of tampering with his mind. When Steve asked after that, Jane had deflated and admitted to finding nothing.

“Thor’s always held a soft spot for this brother,” she confessed to Steve resignedly, “It wouldn’t surprise me if he finally just gave in to one of Loki’s whims.”

Steve and Jane had then shared lunch, and afterwards Steve had sought out Clint. The man always seemed to know what to do for fun and Steve felt like they knew enough of each other for Clint to know when he needed a distraction. Clint had been in one of the ranges, although he was firing arrows into the targets rather than bullets. When Steve asked him about it, he explained that it kept up his aim while also allowing him to work out his arms. Steve could understand that, because it took a lot of strength to work the Jaegers, especially when you needed to pull the limbs as fast and as hard as Striker Delta. Clint offered Steve lessons in archery after explaining the benefits, and Steve accepted them as his distraction from his future plans with Tony. They worked, too, because Steve became engrossed in learning the proper technique with a bow. By the time he and Clint finished their practice, it was getting dark and nearing dinner in the mess hall. Clint, who had been as intuitive as Steve hoped, offered to continue the lessons into the next few days, so Steve met Clint every day in the ranges as his workout.

Visiting the gym after so many days, then, almost felt strange to Steve. Walking in felt like the first time he had encountered Tony within the same space, as Tony was exactly where Steve had originally found him in the middle of his katas. This time the gym was darker, the atmosphere better suited to the meditation Tony was doing on the ground rather than a physical workout. Steve smiled and quietly approached the other man on the floor, sitting beside him when he was within a few feet. He tried his best not to disturb Tony's meditation, knowing that Tony didn't get much time to relax as it was. Instead he watched as Tony breathed, slowly, barely moving beyond letting the air in and out of his systems. Steve began to feel warm sitting on the floor watching the other man, and so after a few moments he decided to speak.

"Think you're ready for everything that's going down?" he asked quietly, looking over to Tony. The other man jumped, and whirled his head around to see Steve. He was clutching his heart, and shot Steve an exasperated look before answering.

"Not if you give me a heart attack first," he replied sharply, "Don't you guys come with bells or something? They should be standard military issue with the way all you guys move."

"I didn't mean to startle you," Steve chuckled, "I have been here for a few minutes now."

"I've been distracted," Tony countered quickly and defensively, "And your memories certainly aren't helping that."

"So you've been ghost-drifting the same as I have," Steve noted, "Do you have any idea why we might be doing this already?"

"I've come up with a few but none of them really make any sense," Tony replied, and he scrunched his eyes closed in order to press the heels of his palms into the sockets before standing. Steve joined him, crossing his arms as Tony moved into an analytical tirade. "The idea of ghost-drifting is simple enough. Whenever you think of somebody - dreaming of them, thinking of them, talking about them - your brain accesses everything it knows about the person. Outside of a drift relationship this is naturally limited to the experiences a person has shared with another person, personal memory that allows you to see their face or hear their voice, but after being in the drift it becomes very different. At that point you've experienced everything somebody else has experienced, felt their emotions and seen through their eyes and shared their thoughts. When you think about that person, you naturally access all of these pieces of information that you've been given, and that's when we experience ghost drifting. But that means that you have to have actually shared this information with each other within the neural handshake, and that usually takes years."

"You said yourself that there was something about our handshake," Steve said, "We might be perfectly compatible, Tony, wouldn't that affect how quickly we were able to share our thoughts through the connection?"

Tony nodded thoughtfully, and pulled at his lip while he considered the possibility. "It makes sense, if there are strong emotions associated or if two pilots were simply drift compatible on a higher level. But even then, it would only allow for the mind to access those memories, it doesn't have anything to do with how often you and I would access those memories and thoughts from each other. And there's no reason I should be thinking so much about you - "

Tony halted, eyes wide with the realization of what he had just said. He reeled back, raising his hands as though to wave away what he had just revealed out loud, but Steve seized him gently by the wrists and spoke first.

"I guess I am also thinking about you," Steve confessed finally, cutting Tony short, halting whatever he was about to say. The brunet paused, turning to send Steve a bewildered expression as Steve's confession registered. Steve didn't say anything else, letting his words process as he realized this was probably where the two of them were meant to go, what Natasha had been referencing when she claimed everyone could see what Steve and Tony could not. Tony realized this at the same time, but was opening and closing his mouth in an attempt to put into words what they were both thinking. Steve didn't have any words, either, staring hard at Tony and willing him to understand the thoughts that wouldn't come.

They stared at each other for a moment longer until Tony surged forward, pressing himself into Steve and taking the man's face between his palms. Knowing Tony's next move and silently thanking him for understanding, Steve leaned down and pressed his own lips against Tony's, wrapping his arms around the smaller man's waist to pull them completely flush against each other.

Tony both tasted and felt like a fresh cup of coffee, Steve noticed, drinking in the energy of the man who had plastered himself to Steve's front. Steve had known Tony would taste of the drink; the man practically drank it by the gallon when he was working and was likely only in the gym rather than the labs because they had scheduled this meeting. The relieving warmth that was flowing from where Tony was eagering responding to Steve's advance, however, was a surprise that Steve could feel flowing through him. He returned the kiss with a renewed vigor, meeting Tony's seeking tongue with his own when the other man parted his lips.

Neither could get enough of each other, pressing closer and closer until it was impossible to be any closer without losing clothing or becoming the same person. Tony pulled his hands from Steve's face as the two continued to bite and suck at each others lips, tangling his fingers in Steve's hair as Steve dragged his lips from Tony's to the man's jawline and neck. Steve had a brief moment of alarm at how quickly they seemed to be moving, but there was such an energy between them that he began to understand that this was perhaps why they had been so drift compatible and feeling each other in the ghost drift. The thought only pressed him on, and he dismissed the uncertainty by kissing a burning red welt just above Tony's collar. Tony responded with a delicious noise of desperation, and began to try to pull them even closer by tugging on the back of Steve's uniform sweater. Steve reluctantly allowed them to part so Tony could yank the sweater over his head to drop it on the ground, and Steve responded in kind to the t-shirt Tony had worn. Now both shirtless, the two men met with a pressing of lips before moving on to other, less cared for locations on each others' torsos. Tony licked a stripe across one of Steve's collar bones before moving to the other while Steve grasped at Tony's arms and dragged nails down his forearms and onto Tony's hips. He cupped the back of Tony's thighs as the brunet turned his attention to Steve's jaw line, and gently lifted Tony so that he could wrap the other man's legs around himself. Tony moved his legs in understanding, catching the curve of Steve's waist with his thighs to lock each of his ankles against the bend of Steve's hip.

Long fingers pulled out of Steve's hair just as Tony attached his teeth to Steve's earlobe, and Steve let out a long and low groan, gently lowering the two of them to the ground and crossing his legs under Tony's weight. Tony allowed himself to be moved with a matching groan, and braced himself against the floor and the top of Steve's thighs. Steve could feel the press of Tony against his rapidly growing cock, pressing insistently against the fabric of his pants and Tony's cushioned ass. Steve moved his hands to grip at Tony's cheeks so hard his fingers would leave bruises, and Tony replied by pressing and grinding himself against Steve's solid erection. He leaned forward to press his lips back against Steve's, and the blond could feel Tony's erection in response to his own pressing between the two of them. He pulled on Tony with both hands, dragging the man's body forward in his lap so that Tony's cock was pressed and rubbed between them.

Something between a whine and a moan fell from Tony's lips as he pulled back, placing one more peck against Steve's lips before pressing himself into Steve's bent legs in order to give himself enough room to run fingers all the way down Steve's chest. Steve shuddered with the motion, moving his hands to rub gently against Tony's bare sides as Tony caught the hem of his pants and gently tugged. Steve's hips twitched towards Tony as he dipped his fingers into the hemline, running short nails over the last of Steve's abdominals and catching the ticklish spots of his obliques before wrapping his hand around Steve's erect penis. Steve gasped, and thrust into Tony's grip before Tony tugged gently and cupped the underside of Steve's cock to pull it free from his pants. Steve let out a harsh breath as the cold air of the gym caught his now leaking shaft, but Tony quickly wrapped his hand fully around the weeping member and started pumping, destroying Steve’s fragile grasp on coherent thought.

"Tony," he muttered as he pressed his face into the crevice between Tony's neck and shoulder, placing kisses over the mark he'd left earlier and over the creamy skin that remained. Tony was moving slightly in his grip as he began pumping Steve's cock, and Steve responded by leaning backwards and giving Tony's hips a light squeeze before moving his hands to Tony's lower back. There Steve played with the hem of Tony's pants, pulling it down just enough to rub at the small dimple just above Tony's cheeks. When Tony responded by pumping a little harder and letting out a pleasured sigh, Steve moved his fingers to caress the cleft. He pulled on the hem of the pants a little harder, pulling them further down Tony's round hips and catching it just below the joint of Tony's ass and hips. This gave Steve the freedom to gently follow the cleavage, rubbing  absently all the way down and catching the perineum with the pad of his thumb, causing a soft friction along the edge of Tony's rim.

This time Tony gasped and pressed into Steve's hand. "Don't stop," he whispered against Steve's lips as he pressed kisses along the side of Steve's face. Steve returned the kiss hungrily, continuing to toy with the sensitive skin around Tony's hole with dry fingers while his other hand slipped around Tony's front and pulled his cock free from where it was straining against the taught hemline of his pants. Tony's cock slipped out with Tony's minute thrusts, and Steve wrapped his hand around both Tony and himself and began to pump around Tony's hand.

Tony's grip joined Steve's around both of them, and for a few moments they pumped together, enjoying the sensation over lazy kisses. Steve could feel the building of his orgasm as Tony thrust back and forth against his cock and onto his fingers, a slow but powerful tide he knew would be coming soon if they maintained their pace. He pulled himself from Tony's lips to warn the man, but Tony beat him to it.

"I'm almost there," Tony confessed into Steve's mouth, nipping at Steve's bottom lip as Steve shuddered with the words.

"Me too," he admitted back, glad to know he wasn't the only one so affected by Tony's motions. Steve stopped pumping to let Tony take over so that he could get a better grip on the brunet to guide his thrusting, pulling and releasing Tony's weight against them and against his hand. Tony let out a groan of pleasure as it increased the friction against both sides of his body and increased the sensation, and pumped the shafts harder in response. He began moving quicker as Steve's motion began to get more erratic, catching the tip of each of their cocks with his thumb and adding a roll to the thrust as both of them lost control of their motions.

Steve came first, climaxing just as Tony adjusted his angle and pushed him over the edge with a gentle pressure on his head. He released all over Tony's moving hand and himself with a cry, the come dripping down and into the creases between the two men. Steve didn't notice the mess, too distracted as he rode the waves of pleasure, letting out choked gasps as Tony continued pumping their cocks alongside each other and milking the rest of Steve's climax from him. Steve's vision whited out as he finished and he removed his grasping and clutching fingers from Tony's hips to press them into the mat underneath himself while Tony leaned forward again and continued to stroke them both.

It was just beginning to feel too sensitive for Steve when Tony let out a grunt that could have been his name, and Steve felt the spatter of Tony's come against his lower abdomen. It was only a few more strokes as Tony pumped through his orgasm before letting go of both of their softening cocks to wipe the excess of come on his own stomach. He let out a breath and collapsed against Steve, who let both of them fall backwards against the mat of the gym. Tony rolled gently to the side, rotating himself into the crook of Steve's arm and leaving his leg casually draped over Steve's. He eased himself against Steve's chest, mindless of the sticky mess smearing between them or of the concrete on his legs where his pants were still pulled down his thighs.

The concrete of the floor was cool on Steve's back as he relaxed against it, catching his breath and trying to comprehend the past few minutes.

"Well," Tony said beside him, eyes focused on Steve's muscles as he placed open mouthed kisses against the nearest ones, "That was interesting."

_Interesting_ wasn't exactly the word Steve would have chosen, but it didn't surprise him that it was a word Tony used, and it wasn't entirely inappropriate. There wasn't really a word Steve could choose to describe what he was feeling, which was a strange fluttering that rippled through his belly and sent a shudder up his spine. Steve knew he could blame the floor's almost icy surface against his sweaty and quickly cooling back, but there was truthfully nothing about his surroundings that were making him feel this way. He turned to Tony to see if the man was having the same reaction.

"Tony - " he started, but Tony rolled off of Steve in order to sit up and look down on the man, cutting off any suggestion Steve was about to make. Tony's expression was a contrast to the face the man had been making for the past hour or so, slack with shock like he was just realizing what had passed.

"Maybe we should avoid letting words muck this up," Tony suggested, voice higher than normal and face pensive but slightly panicked.

"That's a terrible idea, Tony," Steve countered, "We should probably discuss what just happened. How about you be honest with me here, and I promise to be honest with you?"

"I'm not really into the pinky swear thing, Cap," Tony replied, scrunching his nose and giving Steve a disbelieving look.

"Tony, if you have an issue," Steve tried again, but Tony cut him off.

"I think maybe we should just stick to being copilots," he said quickly, as though trying to force it out. "I'm glad we connect so well, and this was a lot of fun - and I mean that, you can ask Rhodey - but we're coming up on this big mission and I really think it's for the better."

"Isn't it because it's such a big mission that's it's better if we stuck together?" Steve asked, voice hitching a little. Tony's logic didn't make any sense to him. They both clearly agreed that there was more here than a simple partnership, so why didn't the other man want to use the time they definitely had to take advantage of that? Natasha had made an excellent point with that argument, but Tony clearly wasn't eye to eye with it.

"Just trust me on this, Cap," Tony said curtly, and Steve was surprised as how much the nickname he had actually come to like stung when it was used with that tone, "And let's drop the subject."

Tony didn't leave any more room for discussion, pulling up his sweats as he stood and refusing eye contact as he grabbed his shirt and all but ran for the gym's exit. Steve sat up, too flabbergasted at Tony’s sudden change in attitude for words, and watched him go, mulling over the conversation and his aching heart.


	18. Chapter 18

So back to normal was how it went, with Steve mostly ignoring the ghost drifting that happened in his dreams and any time he allowed himself to relax, whenever he even thought of Tony. It was almost physically painful to ignore what had become such a huge part of him, especially when he was connecting with Tony in a neural handshake every few days, but he forced himself to move on as best as his mind and heart would allow.

Steve became more acquainted with Colonel Carol Danvers, who turned out to be an even better distraction than Clint's renewed archery lessons. She and Rhodey took to inviting Steve to their own sparring sessions, either to serve as a mediator or to spar alongside them. What was a casual hangout quickly became an almost daily occurrence, with most of the Jaeger teams regularly meeting in the gyms in order to partake in a sparring session against each other. Every week bets were placed and tournaments were held, and it became easier for Steve to ignore what had happened in the very same gym weeks before. It became a team exercise that Steve was not surprised to find helped bond the Jaeger pilots to each other even beyond their copilots, with even Bruce attending, if only just to watch. The man seemed to be more at ease when he was sitting around the men and women they had all started to consider friends, and when he confessed as much, Clint and Natasha made sure to stop by the man's cell every time they planned to meet. Dr. Ross began to join them alongside Bruce after a few trips, and after that Jane joined them as well, as though filling in the space for the still unconscious Thor and Loki. Sam also stopped by more and more frequently, citing a need to stay fit in case they kept the Jaeger program after the Breach was closed, and Steve couldn't help but smile at the man's honest enthusiasm and optimism. He was glad he'd been given the opportunity to work alongside Sam, and when he told the other man, Sam waved him off.

"We're going to be pilots again," he insisted, "And I'm going to have Stark design us a Jaeger that actually flies. Cap, you're going to love it when we get the chance." Steve wasn't so sure the chance would come, but he nodded and couldn't help the smile that stuck around for days after anyway.

The only person who never showed was Tony, but Steve found that to be a relief instead of a burden. While he knew the man would benefit just as much from the meetings as the others, Tony was caught up in ensuring construction of the Avenger turned out for the best, the selfish part of Steve didn't want to deal with the personal frustration he knew the man would cause. Turning off his emotions and memories for the drift was difficult, but it would be nothing compared to having to act as though nothing was wrong between the two of them in the same room where Tony had fled from him.

There was a downside to the meetings, however, and that was that Steve's excellent new distractions meant it was much easier to avoid the labs and the hangar where construction of the Jaeger was continuing. The day the Jaeger was completed came up as a surprise for Steve, who was in the archery range practicing by himself when Tony approached. Steve gave his best friendly smile as the other man drew near, tempering the hope that bubbled inside of him at the prospect of Tony seeking him out beyond their drift practice.

"The Avenger is complete and finished with initial testing," Tony said, his voice cold and his face contorted into a practiced scowl. Steve felt what was left of his hope fade away, and he nodded silently. "We're going to run the final tests and head out first thing tomorrow morning. Make sure you're ready for that," he continued uneasily, and Steve nodded again. With the confirmation, Tony hovered for an awkward minute while the two said nothing before turning to head back the way he came. Steve watched him go, thinking on the mission that had snuck up so suddenly. His confidence, despite the team's fantastic teamwork, had declined significantly after Tony's rejection and he hoped it didn't affect them as pilots. So far the he had managed to keep the hurt held tightly in and as far from the flow of the drift in his mind as he could get it so that Tony wouldn't see it. He hoped he would be able to do that same in a battle against a Kaiju, but there was no telling until they were actually involved. With a hard sigh, Steve moved to follow Tony in order to prepare himself for the next day and get some (hopefully drift-free) rest.

The next morning came quickly, although once he was up it was easy to go through the motions of preparing himself for a battle. It was just like all the other fights, Steve told himself, where everything mattered and rested on a moment, it only felt more important because they were finally accomplishing something with this one. He was in the hangar of the Shatterdome even before dawn, and walked the main aisle as he observed all the Jaegers that were being prepared for war as they were buffed and tested and maintenanced before meeting Tony at the far end, where the Avenger was just finishing its prep routine.

"Ready when you are, Stark," Steve called, and Tony gave him a sad look and a nod in return.

"The Avenger is prepared. We're to take it into the harbor on our own and assess if it is prepared for the mission from there. If so, we'll be moved to site with the rest of the team."

"Understood," Steve replied stiffly, and gestured for Tony to lead into the Jaeger's Conn Pod. Tony accepted the gesture and the two moved into their final preparation.

It felt like a death sentence, allowing others to suit them up into their drive suits that when first worn had felt more like a promise. Today they were little more than an obligation, and Steve regarded Tony's gloomy expression with the thought that the other man might feel the same.

They loaded into the Conn Pod silently, stepping onto their respective platforms and waiting patiently for the countdown on the neural handshake. Joining the drift was equally silent, with both men careful to hold their thoughts as they joined minds. As they grew more fully connected, however, Steve felt himself grow more confident and began to feel Tony respond in kind. Like their other ventures into the drift, there was something about the neural handshake that allowed Steve to relax into his role with Tony.

_Just have to get the Jaeger out the door,_ Tony told Steve through their connection, and though he had felt it Steve was glad to hear that he was talking as well.

"Ready for depart," Steve called into the comms with a smirk to Tony, their roles as copilots growing easier and easier with each each step, as they unlocked from the hangar systems and made their way for the door.

"All smooth so far, how is everything in the Conn Pod?" Phil called from J-Tech, and both Steve and Tony offered their affirmatives as the Avenger reached the hangar doors. They opened slowly, and the two waited patiently for the doors to reveal the outside world. Stepping out was just as easy as any other Jaeger, and Steve admitted to Tony through the drift that he was impressed with the craftsmanship on the Jaeger that had taken considerably less time than normal production. He knew Tony had spent countless hours working to perfect the designs and personally overseeing the construction, but it was still something to be working the Jaeger.

"Everything looks good," Phil called to them as soon as they'd gone over the mechanics and Steve and Tony had given their own all clear. "Let's roll up and head out. Initiate Jaegers for launch."

The four Jaegers were dropped off at the point closest to the Breach without causing any immediate stir just a few hours later, and began to make their way in the direction of the portal. Even the Hulk seemed well-behaved as the group took an easy travel formation, almost as though the program knew that their goal for this mission ultimately matched its own and that it should remain mostly cooperative. Steve counted his blessings as they moved forward, hoping it would stay as quiet as it was while they tried to handle their work. Steve knew that wouldn't be the case, but he was hopeful it might last as long as possible.

A screech in the distance sounded just as the Kaiju warning systems in the Jaegers began to go off, and so Steve initiated contact with J-Tech and assumed control.

"Kaiju readings picking up at Breach exit, headed this way," Steve announced to his team as J-Tech sent the information. "It is to be assumed the noise in the water was the Kaiju and at this time is considered an immediate threat.”

"J-Tech is getting a reading on the recording now," Rhodey added, "Currently a Cat-5 Kaiju, looks like we're going with Banshee on this one. Initial readings imply a sonic blast, perhaps a few kilometers in range and in the hundreds in terms of wattage. Use extreme caution with the noisemaker until we know the extent of this ability."

"It seems to be an oversized vocal chord," Natasha noted as the Kaiju moved into site, Striker Delta focusing from the forefront of the line. The Hulk made an irritated huff, which came out little more than a collection of large bubbles in the water, but Steve and Tony both noticed the large vocal sacs on the Kaiju as soon as it walked itself into their view.

"Aim for the chords," Steve called as their first plan of attack, but before any of them could move the Kaiju let out another shriek and at their proximity it managed to hit all of the Jaegers nearly full force. The line of robots was forced over backwards almost effortlessly, hitting the ground with a series of dulled thumps and surprised cries. "Avoid the scream and aim for the chords," Steve amended quickly as all the Jaegers move to stand, but already Banshee was preparing a new attack.

The four Jaegers scattered, Hulk moving straight forward as soon as it was on its feet in order to grasp the Kaiju by the head. The other three took advantage of Banshee's distraction to circle around the sides, Striker Delta so close it was almost touching the struggling Kaiju.

Banshee was not happy with this new formation, and with a large effort from the Kaiju it freed itself from Hulk’s grasp and let out another series of wails that pierced the water and permeated the Jaegers. All four Jaegers halted in what they were doing so that the pilots could cover their helmeted ears even though it did them no good, but Banshee took the opportunity to get away.

"We gotta get a new strategy," Clint mused as Striker Delta narrowly missed a physical blow but couldn't manage to get a single swipe in as a counter.

Steve and Tony agreed together but nobody in Striker Delta would have heard as Banshee fired a sonic blast in its direction.

"Isn't there an audio block?" Natasha asked, irritated, as Striker Delta stood itself back up only because the Hulk was pulling on Banshee's body again. Both Warbird Victor and the Avenger fired repulsor blasts towards the Kaiju as the Hulk tried to get control of it, circling the outside of the Jaeger/Kaju fight in order to contribute when they could.

"I didn't realize there were going to be sonic attacks," Tony countered quickly, "That was kind of unprecedented here."

"What the hell is that?" Clint asked, just as Striker Delta was thrown into the seabed beneath it with another of Banshee's powerful screams. As soon as the Jaeger was stable on the ground, it pointed into the distance, and Steve and Tony both looked to see another dark figure headed their way.

"Is there no warning on another Kaiju breach?" Tony nearly screamed into the comms, immediately accessing all surrounding data just as the dark figure revealed itself to be another Kaiju. This one was more squid-like in appearance, designed for water combat with a large fin on its tail and at least six tentacle-like appendages that emerged from where there might usually be legs or fins.

"Kaiju stats are coming in at a Cat-5," Carol called over the comms, "No distinct abilities yet but clearly those tentacles are going to be a problem."

"It's always going to be something with tentacles, huh?" Clint sighed in response, but he was silenced by Natasha as Striker Delta righted itself again and moved towards the new Kaiju.

"We should be able to handle this one," Natasha called, and the Jaeger demonstratively took hold of two tentacles as soon as they were close enough to reach them so that they could pull the Squid-Kaiju to the sea floor with them.

"I saw him first, so I got dibs on naming him," Clint called as Striker Delta reeled in the Kaiju in order to deliver a punch, "We're going with Blooper on this one, no complaints."

"You're going to have to take that up with Coulson," Rhodey countered, "Last time Tony and I tried to name one of them Bowser we got shot down."

"You really went the Bowser route?" Carol asked, just as Clint let out a whine and Steve cut them off with another warning for chatter. Tony's laughter was ringing in his head and in his ear, and he was having difficulty focusing on both Kaiju for all the noise.

Hulk let out a roar that cut all of them off and drew Steve's attention to where the Jaeger had hit the ocean floor, hard. It was clutching its head as though it had ears as Banshee pelted it with one sonic blast after the other, denting the armor and forcing the Hulk further into the ocean floor.

"Somebody recover!" Steve shouted as both Warbird Victor and the Avenger fired up their repulsors to take a shot at Banshee in order to free the Hulk. Just before both Jaegers could raise their arms, however, two of Blooper's tentacles shot out and gripped the two Jaegers by the wrists, pulling them together and ruining their shots before they could take them. All four pilots let out a cry of frustration as they scrambled to avoid hitting each other. They just managed, but only because the Avenger activated the thrusters on its back and Warbird Victor the repulsors on its hands and feet. Even then, Steve could swear he felt the whoosh of pressure as the two Jaegers were forced by one another.

"Fuck it, time to punch it," Carol muttered into the comm, just loud enough for the others to hear, before she and Rhodey were driving towards Blooper in order to catch the Kaiju's face with a sucker punch from one of Warbird Victor's thrustered fists. Striker Delta used the opportunity to take control of one more tentacle to try to remove them and diminish the Kaiju's advantage over them; Warbird Victor moved to help with this, grabbing the stunned Kaiju around its waist and lifting through the water, restraining the monster so that it could not escape as Warbird Victor leveled out just high enough from the seabed that it had no leverage against the ground. Striker Delta joined them in the water, immediately moving to slash one of the tentacles with an extended blade.

Steve and Tony turned their attention back to the Hulk, which continued to roar in pain as Banshee lashed out and delivered sonic blows in turn. The Avenger sieged forward, finally knocking the Kaiju aside and freeing the Hulk from its assault.

"Any reading on what knocked Hulk off of his A-Game?" Tony asked as Steve tried to get a good visual on the Jaeger while ensuring Banshee had been properly removed.

"Negative," Steve responded automatically as he and Tony drove the Jaeger into the Hulk space in order to check on the now out Jaeger. As soon as Banshee's attack had ceased, the Hulk had collapsed to its knees and stopped roaring, and Steve was not yet sure why.

"Bruce, can you give us any sign?" Steve called through the comms, trying to get a reading on Bruce's vitals. There were no readings coming from the Hulk, which wasn't usual, but was still unsettling.

"Brucey-bear, we gotta have you in this fight," Tony added as the Avenger gave the Hulk a small shake to try to revive the powers systems and the pilot inside simultaneously. Still there was no response.

"Jaeger down," Steve reported as soon as their assessment was complete, "No readings, pilot may be critical." It was not like they could do anything for the time being, but he needed to report it to have evac ready as soon as the Kaiju were down.

"Tony, on your six!" Rhodey shouted on the comms as soon as Steve was done reading the information into J-Tech, and the Avenger turned just in time to catch Banshee in a rush. It crashed into the Jaeger, hitting one of the vital joints and winding both Steve and Tony as the reaction traveled into the Conn Pod. It shouted again as it hit, releasing another wave of blunt force that knocked the other side of the Avenger just as Blooper broke free of Warbird Victor and surged forward to swipe at Striker Delta. It gripped the smaller Jaeger and rammed its solid head against the head of the robot, ripping and gripping at the limbs it had restrained as it did so. Striker Delta creaked with strained metal and made a terrible cracking sound as Blooper managed to hit the edge of the core plate with its bony head, but there didn't seem to be significant damage yet.

Warbird Victor moved forward as soon as the Kaiju pulled free, trying to get a better grip on Blooper before it could do any real damage to Striker Delta but having little success at dismantling the tentacles. Striker Delta was using its own blades to try to remove the tentacles manually, but both Jaegers were highly occupied by the attempt, and by the need to protect Striker Delta from the remaining tentacles, which hovered dangerously in the water as they tried to get a better grip on the Jaeger.

This left the Avenger mostly on its own to handle Banshee, which was attacking the Jaeger with a renewed vigor, biting at the armor and releasing short sonic bursts every chance it got. For the most part, Tony and Steve managed to avoid taking any serious damage but could not avoid the smaller damage each blast from Banshee was doing to the armor and the equipment inside. "I don't think the Avenger can take another direct hit and still have the energy to get to the Breach," Tony speculated as they successfully diverted another of Banshee's shrieks in the opposite direction. The sound waves were still hitting them and it took all Steve had not to just grip at his ears, but it was not as bad as some of the direct hits from earlier. "The reactor is sensitive and we're taking too much damage with every hit."

"You have to go," Natasha insisted into the comms, "Before more Kaiju appear and you lose your chance to access the Breach."

"We've got the fort here, Captain," Clint added, vaguely humorously as Striker Delta took another hit from Blooper and both of the pilots grunted with the brunt of the force.

_Natasha's right,_ Tony agreed, the calculations running through his head as he transferred his thoughts, _By my estimates we're starting to push the next Kaiju breach. We need to go now or risk losing the opening. You and I both know this team can't handle another Kaiju._

Tony was right; Steve conceded. "Warbird Victor is lead," he called over the comms, a heaviness in his resignation. "Tony and I are going to cut systems and try to disappear behind the flurry.”

"You know I outrank you in this Jaeger, right?" Carol asked Rhodey as Warbird Victor moved to take point. It was an almost flawless seam as Warbird Victor took the Avenger’s place and Steve and Tony went dark, allowing the Avenger to sink under the battle while Warbird Victor distracted Banshee and Striker Delta continued to try to remove tentacles from Blooper.

_They're going to be fine,_ Tony assured him, comforting waves easing through the drift and to Steve. He accepted them gratefully, giving Tony a relieved sigh and closing his eyes as they drifted further and further from the battle, unnoticed.


	19. Chapter 19

The fight had been far enough away from the Breach that with the thrusters only minorly activated, the Avenger was able to maneuver its way to the Breach without drawing too much attention before it was no longer visible in the darkness of the ocean depths. Steve and Tony halted all unnecessary programs as the thrusters calmed, dimming all the lights within the Jaeger and using the Avenger's advanced mapping and propulsion systems to move as close to the Breach as it needed to be. Steve tried not to think of the others back in the battle, of how outmatched they truly were or whether any of them would ever see each other again. He and Tony had a job to do, and the unexpected but gentle wave of comfort that came from his copilot helped Steve to refocus on that task. He gave Tony a grateful glance before tilting his head pointedly at the glowing, iridescent hole that was the entrance to the Breach.

_Are you ready?_ Steve thought, trying to fill his own thoughts with the same warmth that Tony was exuding. There was a sadness to Tony's thoughts, but the man was doing a good job of covering it with the natural excitement of using his new design and of finally stopping the Kaiju War. Steve let those thoughts also permeate his mind as Tony offered an affirmative, and the Avenger began to hum gently as Tony activated the signal.

The space between the Avenger and Breach began to glow blue with the arc reactor's new energy, and Steve listened and watched to see if he could identify what exactly they were doing. But there was nothing except the gentle hum of the reactor working at its higher capacities and the gentle glow of it in the water in front of them. It was almost entrancing for Steve, who felt lulled by the steady rhythms around, stimulated by the quiet but constant calculations Tony was feeding into the drift.

There was a sudden roaring, however, that drowned out the quiet thoughts and calm humming, and the water began moving more swiftly around them, creating unnatural ripples in the light.

"Banshee headed your way!" Natasha shouted into the comms just before another shriek drowned even the sounds of that out, and Steve recognized the noise that was rapidly approaching them from earlier.

"Affirmative!" Steve shouted back to her, and they had just enough time to brace the Avenger before the impact of the approaching Kaiju hurled into them from behind. The Avenger rolled neatly with the attack, almost successfully dislodging Banshee from the grip it had immediately established in the lunge. But the Kaiju remained attached, hanging onto the Avenger from behind, pulling at the Jaeger's body as though to drag it away from the Breach. It made Steve a little relieved to know that one of the Kaiju had been removed from the fight with the others, increasing their chances away from the Breach, but the sonic Kaiju let out another shriek that had both Steve and Tony scrambling for their helmets in a vain attempt to cover their ears. A few alarms began to sound from the control panel as Banshee continued to pull at the Avenger from behind.

"We have to move now," Tony shouted over the alarm that was beginning to ring within the Conn Pod signalling a number of safety breaches within the unit. Steve hissed as some of the connections sizzled against his skin, reminding him that time was of the utmost importance in the matter. He reached forward with one throbbing arm, slamming his palm against the activation key on his control panel while Tony did the same. They waited just a moment for the screens to change, a modification that would grant them remote control of the bomb pod that would be disconnecting from the Avenger as soon as it was ready. Those screens took only a moment to change, fading into a pale red in front of Steve as they activated the video. The sight which greeted Steve and Tony as the bomb pod finally became functioning was immediately alarming, revealing Banshee's face and claws in close definition, tugging and attacking the backside of the Avenger as well as the pod. Steve was relieved when the pod finally began to move, but one good tear from the Kaiju and the Jaeger gave a shudder before sounding more alarms.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, trying to decipher the individual noises from one another and trying to find the panels on each appropriate screen in front of him. Everything was becoming a jumbled mess of code and warnings on the screens, which Steve couldn't read or understand but he could hear Tony reading them aloud, and he could hear the orders Tony was trying to give to the system.

_Tony,_ Steve insisted through the drift, _Tony, we need to figure out what's wrong,_ he pushed harder, and Tony spared him a frustrated glance before turning back to his screen.

"The whole system's been shot," Tony shouted over the noise, flinching as Banshee let out another shriek that shook the Conn Pod and felt like an explosion on Steve's ears. "It seems like when Banshee landed on us it managed to slightly dislodge the bomb pod from its security hooks. There's no way to remove the pod without manually pulling it from those catches."

Steve hesitated, because he knew this was the moment they had both dreaded and hoped would not come. There was discomfort over the drift, as though Tony himself disliked knowing what needed to be done, and Steve chewed at his lip as he considered the options that they now had before them. He could allow Tony to take the bomb pod alone, while Steve tried to handle the Kaiju as a distraction for him. This was mostly logical and clearly what Tony intended, but there was no assurance that Tony would survive the Breach or the explosion. Steve could also take the bomb pod himself, leaving Tony in the Avenger to ensure its return. But he didn't know how to operate the pod, and he wasn't comfortable leaving Tony to handle the Kaiju while piloting a Jaeger alone. They could also allow the pod to be removed and try to control it remotely, but there was the obviously glaring possibility that the pod wouldn't work if it was ripped from its source.

"If that Kaiju pulls much harder I'm afraid we aren't going to be able to go through any of the options," Tony pressed as Steve weighed all the possibilities. And the man was right, as another harsh lurch and squeal of metal pulled the bomb pod further back and away from the Jaeger. Much further and the access point would be detached and they would be forced to abandon their mission.

"I have to go, Steve. I have to disconnect it manually and I have to be the one to ensure it makes it through the Breach. It's the only way," Tony pleaded one more time.

Steve ran through all the available options one more time, but the blaring sirens and the Kaiju beyond were a clear indication that there was little time for talking or strategizing. Eventually he nodded, and Tony began to hastily prepare the Avenger for what Steve was beginning to understand had been an inevitability since they had established this plan. The mechanic, ignoring Steve's melancholy thoughts, began shutting down the nonessential systems of the Jaeger, including most of the communications and a number of motor functions. Parts of the Jaeger were put into an automatic drive, which Tony had designed to avoid the strain of working a whole Jaeger although they would prevent Steve from accessing the systems which ran automatically. These included the arm that Tony was controlling as well as many of the weapons features and every part of the Jaeger beneath its knees. It left Steve at a disadvantage against the Kaiju ripping at the armor now, but it was a sacrifice they had to make in order for the Avenger to function at all, and it was a sacrifice that Steve would gladly make if it meant Tony had a chance at finally closing the Breach.

It was almost calm, despite the sirens, as Tony finished the last of the shut downs and disconnected himself from the neural handshake. With everything but the essential pieces of the Jaeger no longer functioning, Tony removed his helmet and moved to fully disconnect his drive suit from the Conn Pod connections.

"Tony," Steve called as the other man pulled his last boot from the Conn Pod's platform and moved in front of Steve. He was smiling reassuringly, but Steve had felt the bravada through the drift before Tony had disconnected himself. Now all he felt was the achingly familiar emptiness of an unshared drift, coupled with the slight strain on his mind where the mostly inactive Jaeger was still using Steve to keep itself running. Tony smiled through the glass of their helmets, and Steve reached out in turn. "Promise you'll be careful down there," he said helplessly, because there was nothing to be said to a man who was about to drive a bomb into another dimension.

"I promise, Steve," Tony replied just as easily, because they both knew it was a request Steve shouldn't ask and a promise Tony couldn't make. It was unknown territory, and a hydrogen bomb, and a plan so riddled with holes and problems Steve had long since stopped feeling any confidence that they might survive. But he did not allow this fear to damage his hope that they might make it out alive, or at least that Tony might be safe in the smaller Pod.

"The signal is automatic," Tony explained quickly in their last few moments, "At least for you. I've transferred operations to the Travel Pod so that I can deactivate it as soon as I'm finished doing what I need to do."

"You mean as soon as you're back through the portal," Steve corrected sharply, trying to stare Tony down from his place on the Pod. He would have given anything to know Tony's thoughts at the time, because the man was making the face Steve had come to recognize as hesitance.

"I'm going to make it back through the Breach," Tony finally answered, voice full of the confidence that Steve had been searching for in his expression. "But you can't wait, Steve. I'll set the Avenger to return to the others as soon as the signal stops if I have to but I need you to promise that you'll return to the team as soon as I cut the signal.

"Tony, I can't take Banshee back to the others, they're struggling as it is," Steve cut in quickly. The remaining three Jaegers, talented as they were, had been unable to handle the two Kaiju without Steve and Tony's help. The number had thankfully diminished by half, but it didn't help that the team had been already so drastically crippled in the fight. The other Kaiju had been a formidable opponent, not to mention the damage Banshee had wreaked on the team while he had been there.

As if to the emphasize the point, the Avenger gave another screeching jerk that reminded Steve too much of the last time he had been piloting a Jaeger alone in a Conn Pod while trying to communicate with his partner. Steve paled as his mind and body made the automatic comparison, and admitted to himself that there were definitely ulterior motives for his need to stay around the Breach while Tony worked to close and destroy it. The thought of abandoning Tony to rely on a tiny escape pod this deep into the ocean, surrounded by massive explosions and a closing Breach, was a thought that killed Steve. He couldn't let the other man die just as he had let Bucky die ten years ago, and he couldn't imagine living without Tony.

"Banshee won't be a problem for them," Tony assured him, tearing through Steve's thoughts with a tone that was neither reassuring nor believable. "I have a plan that's going to take care of him for the most part, I just need you to promise me that you'll return to the others to help them out."

Tony wasn't being completely honest about his plan, and Steve bit his lip, because so far there hadn't been anything positive happen with their mission, and every new plan meant more danger for the man he had come to admire and care for. He hated the idea of leaving Tony, couldn't even fathom the idea of giving him even the smallest chance of not making it out of the Breach, and ultimately decided that this was something he couldn't do. He opened his mouth to protest, but Tony cut him off.

"Promise me!" Tony shouted back, grasping for Steve wrists through their machinery and holding tightly when he had a firm grip. He stared into Steve's helmet, locking eyes with the blond and holding his gaze until Steve let out a sigh and closed his own eyes. There was no moving forward for either of them, it seemed, without at least giving the impression that they were able to sacrifice each other for the greater good.

"I promise," Steve said in a voice that was almost a whisper, hating himself for lying but knowing he could never keep the promise. He knew that Tony knew this, but just as he had ignored Tony's unintentioned promise, the brunet seemed to take Steve at his word and let go of the grip on his wrists. He gave Steve a wry smile and pulled the man forward, placing his lips against Steve's helmet in the resemblance of a kiss to his forehead. Steve stared, bewildered, as Tony pulled away, the sadness evident on his face and in his posture. Tony made it all the way to the entrance of the Conn Pod and had replaced his helmet before Steve was even able to tear his eyes away from the very faint smudge where Tony's lips had come so close to his skin, reacting before the man could make it any further.

"Tony!" he shouted to the retreating figure in front of him. Tony turned only briefly, his eyes dark and tired. "I... I love you," Steve called, and the sagging form of Tony's body froze with the words. His face seized up, like Tony wanted to scream or cry, and he did not move for what felt like years to Steve before turning back around, showing only his profile.

"I'll see you on the other side," was his reply, and he gave the most halting of waves before disappearing through the down hatch. Steve watched him until there was no sign of Tony having been in the Conn Pod, and turned his attention back to the Kaiju and the issue immediately in front of him. He sucked in the deepest breath he could manage, trying not to let the fear and sudden overwhelming sadness consume him when he was so desperately needed. He now had a new job that he needed to focus on, and though he had no intention of following through with his promise, he reassured himself that this was what he needed to do. With one last groan of effort, Steve pushed the Avenger forward and lined up the back of the Jaeger with the Breach. His energy spent, Steve activated the trigger to fully release the bomb pod and looked up to watch it disappear.


	20. Chapter 20

Tony's plan had been clever, Steve mused, as he watched the bomb pod detach and with it, the Kaiju that had been hanging on to the Avenger. It was with a numb sort of realization that Steve felt he should have known was coming the minute Tony claimed he had a plan and that Banshee would no longer be a problem. Yet as the pod disconnected itself from the Avenger’s back, Steve found he could do little more than laugh dumbly as the entire backside of the Jaeger pulled the screeching and scrambling Kaiju off with it. Banshee, to its credit, was struggling to figure out what was going on, and was seeking purchase on the pod as it pulled away from the main body of the Jaeger. As they disconnected, the alarms of the Avenger began to calm as well, and the disjointed feeling sinking into Steve became double fold as everything around him began to fade into the separation of Tony's pod.

The transformation happened so quickly that by the time Banshee actually figured out what was going on, Tony's pod was already detached and driving away from the Avenger. Banshee let out one more shriek as it realized it had been holding the wrong part of the puzzle, but it was too late for the Kaiju to turn around or swim away. The smaller pod disappeared into the crack of the Breach, pulling Banshee with it and disappearing into the portal with only the echo of the Kaiju's lethal cries lingering.

"Make it," Steve insisted, staring at the portal's hole to see if there was any evidence that Tony's pod had made it through. There didn't seem to be any evidence otherwise, unlike the previous attempts where everything had destroyed itself right as it moved to cross the Breach. Steve wanted to take this as a sign that Tony had been successful, and though he tried to sober himself with all the possibilities it was difficult to quell the hope. "Make it," he said again, before reaching for the comms and activating the personal comm that Tony had established between the Jaeger and its smaller pod.

"Tony," he called quietly into his helmet, staring hard into the glow of the Breach, "Tony, confirm entrance," he called again, waiting impatiently as the line gave only the crackle of static.

"Little busy with angry Kaiju," Tony called after a moment, breaking the static so suddenly it started Steve, but overwhelming relief quickly replaced alarm. "How about a little assistance, Jarvis?"

"Tony, who is Jarvis?" Steve asked, straining his ears to try to hear what was happening within Tony’s small pod.

"I probably should have mentioned," Tony said, and wasn't that exactly what Steve didn't want to hear? "But I've been perfecting the AI programming since Big Green and I've -kind of got it all worked out. Jarvis is my co-pilot in here, but you don't have to worry! Because we're not sharing the drift or anything, he's just an autopilot system with a little more sass than what we’ve got up in the Avenger… speaking of, J, any reason we're not shaking off the screamer here?"

"Working on it, sir," A disjointed voice joined Tony's over the comms, and Steve assumed it to be the AI mentioned. So far Tony's whole plan had been one large emotional roller coaster for Steve, who let out another breath of relief when Tony assured him that he had not been sharing a neural handshake with an untested system. He listened more closely as there was the pain cry from Banshee and Tony let out a whoop of victory.

"Jarvis is actually what I'm using to manage the timers," Tony called, his voice breaking in and out as he moved around in the pod, "He’s an AI similar to Big Green because he's got the specific programming of a Jaeger with the right amount of autonomy to make on the fly decisions necessary of a Jaeger pilot. All I have to do is put her on autopilot and ol' J has everything taken care of."

"I'm glad you've got it worked out," Steve laughed into his helmet, and was surprised to hear how breathy he sounded through the stress of Tony's antics and of piloting the Jaeger on his own. His head was beginning to hurt, but Tony was still talking and it was easier to focus on the brunet rather than on the strain of his body, so he kept talking. "What does it look like in there?"

"You know, all I had was that awful view of Kaiju dangle so honestly I couldn't tell you but I guess I could take a look - oh, Steve." Tony's sentence cut off with the sharp inhale of breath, "Steve, it's... it's not like anything I've ever seen before. It's everything I'd ever hoped another dimension might be, Steve, it's... there can't be anything like it in the world."

"But you've got to get out of there," Steve reminded the man gently, a small smile on his face as he listened to the man's quiet ooh's and ahh's. To be honest, even despite the physical strain on his body and stress of the battle weighing on his mind, Steve was beginning to feel the floating bliss of the quiet end, and he let his body sink into the sensation. Everything was starting to go numb and a bit fuzzy, a welcome sensation in Steve's mind to accompany the gentle hum of Tony's awestruck voice.

"I know, I just wish it were under better circumstances. The things we could have shared with each other," Tony mourned quietly. "J's locked on a location now, so we're setting delivery time in T-Minus one minute."

"Affirmative," Steve replied easily, "Jarvis, bring him home," he added for good measure.

"Captain, it would be my pleasure," the AI responded easily, and Steve decided that he was beginning to like the idea of the AI systems despite their rocky start. He regretted that it seemed they would no longer have needs for the AI within the Jaegers, but he was also certain Tony would find another purpose for the ingenious decision.

"Activating the timer, Steve, prepare to move the Avenger," Tony called after a few moments of relaxed silence, and Steve blinked and shook his head to ground himself in the present before adjusting his grip on the control bar that still worked. He braced himself, ready to reach out should Tony need assistance once his escape pod had breached the portal, and began counting seconds to the system's activation.

"Pod dispatching," Jarvis's slightly metallic voice rang through, and only after Steve had reached ten on his mental countdown, "Detonation in thirty seconds."

Steve lifted his good arm, ready to move when the moment was appropriate, but a familiar call rang out over his communicator and both men let out grunt of alarm as Banshee's cries were drowned out by the creaking of metal bending.

"Tony!" Steve shouted, throwing both of his hands up to grasp at his helmet as though it might hold it more firmly in place so that he could listen to the other end. Tony let out another grunt but this time in pain, and Steve could hear what sounded like the other man being thrown around the cockpit.

"Don't know where he came from!" Tony shouted, voice growing firmer as he steadied himself, "But there's something jamming the escape pod, I'm having difficulty getting it removed!"

"Just stay put!" Steve called back, making a split second decision and surging with every bit of his body to move the Avenger towards the Breach. "Just stay there, secure yourself in the escape!" he shouted again, willing himself and his Jaeger to move closer with every strained step and every second passed.

"Jarvis, hold the signal!" Steve shouted as his mental timer reached twenty seconds left, stumbling diving forward towards the Breach and reaching into it with without hesitation. The top half of the Avenger passed through easily, and Steve was even more grateful for the AI system than before. He looked around, only barely taking in the swirling systems of pinks and blues around him as they reached and retracted around a complex structure system. In front of him he immediately spotted Tony's pod, and reached the Avenger’s working arm forward to try to grab at the pod. But Banshee had the entire pod within its grip, the escape pod that Tony had been trying to exit through held tightly to the side of the bomb's connections. The entire system was connected to a large device that Steve couldn't liken to anything he had ever seen before. It seemed metal, and had cogs and gears and electronic pieces but nothing that seemed connected to anything else, and running in no pattern Steve could follow.

He ignored the immediate desire to stare at the mechanism, focusing instead on Banshee and on the struggling pod. With his good arm Steve made a fist and swiped out at the Kaiju, who easily evaded his strike.

"Let go!" he shouted ineffectually at the monster, and it shrieked at him and gripped harder at the pod in its grasp. Steve let out another cry of rage, making another wide swipe and reaching for the pod he just couldn’t seem to get a finger on.

"Ten seconds until detonation, sir," Jarvis's voice interrupted Steve's thoughts, and he seized and panicked at the sound. He had only ten seconds to reach forward and pull Tony from danger, but the Kaiju would not let go and the portal would not remain open long enough for Steve to wait out the explosion, if the pod could even survive that.

"Jarvis, give me everything you've got on that pod!" he shouted into the comms, and reached forward one more time, finally taking the Kaiju's face by the jaw and yanking it forward. Banshee fought Steve but he was determined to get ahold of the escape pod, and with all the strength he could muster, thrust the Kaiju's head into the mechanism to the side. It didn't kill Banshee, but it was enough to force it to loosen its grip on the pod and the escape piece released with a great burst of speed. Steve let out a cry of pain as the strain of the Jaeger ripped at his arm, shooting sparks of pain down his arm and into his shoulder, but let go of Banshee's face in favor of grasping for the escape pod. He was able to get his first two fingers on it, and pulled it into the Avenger's fist just as Jarvis counted off the last seconds and the pod activated its bomb. Steve yanked his fist back, pulling along with it the fist of the Jaeger. He reached the entrance to the Breach just as the bomb went off and as Jarvis ended the signal, signifying the closing of the portal.

Steve's adrenaline was pumping, but there was a searing pain at his side that made it nearly impossible to ignore even as the Avenger's fist came flying back through the rapidly closing portal. Steve watched in horror as streams of boiling hot water and fragments of broken metal twisted and shot through what remained of the Breach, catching in the surrounding terrain and embedding itself in both dirt and in the metal of the Avenger. Steve was only barely able to catch sight of the melted remains of the Avenger’s elbow as it dropped beside the Jaeger, releasing Tony's escape pod to float to the surface. Steve found himself staring at the remains rather than at the floating pod, unable to fathom the now mostly missing arm and realizing it to be the source of the agonizing pain on the side of his body. Everything on that side burned, reacting with his nerves to warn him of the arm that was now melting off the Jaeger and sinking to the floor in pieces of cooling metal, but he forced himself through the pain as he began activating his own escape systems. Power to the Avenger began diverting just as the systems began blaring more warnings of the damage to the exterior, and Steve managed to reach his own escape pod just as the Avenger let out the beginnings of its systems breached warnings.

Steve gripped at his burning arm and watched the red of the Conn Pod disappear through the closing doors, closing his eyes against the pain as escape pod shot out through its hatch and raced for the surface.

Steve's pod surfaced first, urged on by the thrust of its release from the Avenger. It was followed by a raging wave of air bubbles that released hot air in Steve's face as he threw open his own pod and leapt up to begin looking for Tony. Pieces of the Jaeger were beginning to surface, plastic that had been blown off and metals that floated and were thrust upwards with Steve's pod. After what felt like an eternity, Tony's pod finally surfaced about fifteen feet away from Steve, and he dropped into the water to swim towards it. He ignored the roaring pain that shot through his burnt and battered arm, letting it clutch as though withered to his side as he forced his body through the water with aching legs and one good arm. He reached Tony's pod just as it opened itself, revealing Tony inside. He wasn't moving, but Steve forced himself to stay calm as he reached for Tony's face to check for breathing and a pulse. He found both quickly, and so Steve moved both of his hands to cup Tony's face, grasping gently and giving the slightest of tugs in order to rouse the man.

"Tony," Steve urged, giving Tony's cheeks gentle pats in the embrace, "Tony, wake up, come on."

Tony's body shifted, pulling back from Steve's grip just slightly but enough for Steve to feel, and he let out a whoop of excitement.

"Heard your voice," Tony mumbled without opening his eyes, "Heard your voice and saw the Avenger come through. Knew I'd be okay." He nuzzled one of Steve hands before his eyes flew open and dilated, focusing on Steve as soon as they spotted him.

"Steve!" Tony shouted, throwing himself into a sitting position and grasping Steve by his burnt arm. Steve let out a cry of pain and ripped the arm from Tony's grasp, and the brunet shot him a terrified look in response. Steve finally looked down at the arm, where the drive suit had been entirely burnt away and the skin was glowing red.

"I'm okay," Steve gritted through the pain he was now fully feeling, forcing himself to look back at Tony's bewildered face and finding a relief in being able to lock eyes with the man.

"Steve," Tony managed, and opened and closed his mouth a few more times before finding words, "You sent in the Avenger, after I _told_ you to go back to the others! You brought the Avenger into the Breach and you deliberately put my Jaeger in harms way - "

"I saved you," Steve pointed out, mostly ignoring Tony's exasperated yelling in favor of relishing the sound of his own name coming from Tony's mouth. Tony turned a glare on him at the interruption, but it wasn't harsh and even then it softened immediately.

"You endangered yourself and you didn't let me just do what I needed to do and had accepted and dammit, Steve, you know what? I love you, too. I didn't want to say it because that meant I was going on a suicide mission when I actually had something to live for and you're not supposed to do that but I did, Steve. I love you, I love you, I love you, and I don't know what I would have done if you had died or if I had died because I just want to live. With you. I want to live and I want to be with you, how crazy is that?"

Steve just beamed, because at the moment there were no better words in all of existence. Unable to hold in his happiness anymore, he seized the other man by the waist and drew him forward, nearly slamming their lips together in a salty wet kiss. Tony made a noise of protest as his body was pulled forward and pressed against every inch of Steve's front, but it was all the complaining the man did before he greedily accepted the kiss, throwing his arms around Steve neck and dragging the man in closer. They pulled away only long enough for Tony to wipe some of the blood from Steve nose off of Steve's face, and both men laughed at the unbelievable relief that this was the worst they were going to suffer, that everything about the war was over. They shared a glance before leaning into each other to kiss again, this time a little slower and a little more focused on the feel of each other rather than just the impulsive need to ensure the other's existence. Steve moved to reposition them into something more comfortable as his injured arm began to ache more with the angle, but the static of Tony's escape pod interrupted anything he might have intended.

"Avenger... -me in... status rep-... -venger... Wha- -s the status of the Brea-" it shouted at them in the clipped tones of Phil Coulson, and Tony let out a long suffering sigh before turning back to the interior of the pod.

"The Breach is destroyed," he replied, pulling out the headset and perching himself against Steve's thigh. Steve let out a small, contented sigh as Tony continued his overdramatic suffering, rolling his eyes with each static word that he interrupted, "The Avenger is out of commission, but we have two tired pilots in need of pickup at this location. Coordinates should be receiving in LOCCENT, please confirm."

There was a roar of sound from the speakers, and both Steve and Tony jumped at the crackling static. Tony gave the machine inside the pod a hardy kick, which surprisingly seemed to be just the jump it needed. "Confirmed," Phil's voice rang clearer through the speakers, "Confirmed on the destruction of the Breach, and confirmation on the location of both surviving pilots. LOCCENT has the information and we are on our way to pick you up, Avenger."

Steve let out a deep breath, and leaned forward to speak into Tony's headset. "What of the others?" he asked quietly, afraid to know the answer, "Coulson, what of the other Jaegers?"

"Disappointed that you stole credit for one of the Kaiju," Natasha's voice sounded then, and Steve warmed all over again with the relief that her voice brought in him, "But all in all none the worse for wear. A few sprains and broken bones but those will heal in time. Bruce may even join us in the celebration when you guys get back, although he's trying to bail by claiming a headache."

"Bruce?" Steve and Tony asked at the same time.

"Woke up," the scientist responded, coming in through Striker Delta's line, "And apparently with the Kaiju believed gone there's not much reason for the Other Guy to be so pushy now, or angry." Tony and Steve shared a bewildered look, but Bruce pressed on. "If it's okay with you guys, I'd like to run a few tests after the celebration, but right now everybody's just glad to hear your voices."

"That's... that's very good news," Steve mumbled into Tony's skin, and he would have been lying if he had denied that it felt much like the weight of the world had been suddenly lifted from their shoulders.


	21. Epilogue

It was a sunny afternoon at the new Jaeger Academy, Steve noted, a welcome change. It seemed like the past few years of his life had been nothing but rain, but the warmth and promise of the sun had long since dried up the drizzling sadness that resided in him. Everybody was out today anyway, enjoying the last few weeks of a summer they all almost missed in a world they almost lost. There was definitely an appreciation of the campus life visible in everybody in the quad, even from the students who were not yet old enough to understand what had almost come to pass.

Steve let a small group of children no older than six or seven rush by him, barely missing his legs in their hurry to keep up with their friends, and felt himself laugh with their antics. It had been a long time since children could laugh with no fears or worries lingering on their mind, and it was nice to see there were still children who could.

Yet even the teenagers who had seen the worst  the war had dealt and who had stared death in the face were out today, mingling amongst themselves or chatting within the various social groups scattered around. Steve easily spotted a number of familiar faces in the crowd, waving as they recognized him and smiling in their direction. He spotted Clint and Natasha sitting together, talking with the young brunette Steve remembered as Kate Bishop as well as a number of boys that also looked to be her age. Clint was smirking, as usual, but there was an easiness about it that Steve was certain he had never seen before. Even Natasha looked softer, watching the exchange between Clint and a dark headed boy with the slightest of grins that belied the aloof persona Natasha had worked so hard to create.

Steve moved on, into a quieter corner of the quad whose only sounds were those of Dr. Foster, speaking with urgency and with firmness. Steve paused only a moment before deciding to intrude, and turned the corner to spot Jane seated on one of the park benches, Thor propped up next to her. He was looking much healthier, if you discounted the sour look that was plastered across his face. Steve moved forward to try to catch just why Thor seemed so unhappy, but he was practically in their space before he understand Jane speaking, delivering what sounded to Steve to be a nurse's lecture about taking care of himself. When Steve listened closely, he could hear Thor's muttered replies to his girlfriend, who continued talking as though Thor wasn't even there. Steve made a move to greet them, but felt a hand on his forearm and looked down to see Loki.

"I wouldn't interrupt, they're about to make up," he muttered, gesturing to where, in the split second Steve had looked down to Loki, Thor and Jane had thrown themselves upon each other and were kissing with such vigor that Steve felt startled to have even seen it. He glanced down at Loki, bewildered, and the dark haired Odinson simply rolled his eyes. "This is my punishment, I'm sure of it," he lamented, staring down Steve sardonically, "But if I were you I wouldn't stick around. They're going to be busy for quite some time."

"How are you doing, Loki?" Steve asked, if just for propriety. Loki seemed surprised to receive the question, but quickly shook his head and raised his chin to answer.

"Mostly sore still," he said, trying to look as though he were in better condition, but failing. "But being chair ridden gives me a chance to catch up on my reading. And to... reevaluate what happened back in the Jaeger."

Steve wasn't sure whether or not to believe the quiet expression that took over Loki's face as he turned away from Steve to play with the hemline of his shirt, but the man seemed repentant and the war was over, anyway. Steve nodded a comforting affirmation to the man who was now refusing to look at him and very slowly walked away from him.

Bruce and Betty were nearby, probably because despite Jane's lecture, the area was the quietest in the whole quad. They seemed to be talking quietly between the two of them, heads hunched together in a way that Steve could barely see that they were looking straight at each other as they whispered back and forth. Steve admired their clasped hands before waving amicably to catch their attention. They both looked to him with a smile before nodding and waving in return, quickly returning to their private conversation. Just as Steve turned to leave, he caught sight of Clint and Natasha, now making their way towards where Betty and Bruce were huddled. Clint had acquired an oversized basket since Steve had seen them, probably full of goodies, and Natasha was carrying a large quilt that looked like it had seen the worst of the Kaiju War but still could keep you warm on a cold night.

"Going to have a picnic, or some shit like that," Clint explained and held up the basket as Steve watched them pass, and Natasha nodded. "It’s gonna be delicious if you want to join us." Clint let out an unconscious oof as Natasha stomped his toe, and Steve just laughed.

"I'm looking for Tony, actually," he confessed, holding his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"He was up by the entrance, causing trouble with the children," Natasha offered, pointing in the general direction of the quad's main entrance. Steve thanked her and headed in that direction, hoping to catch his co-pilot.

Tony was standing with Rhodey, Sam, and Carol, discussing something animatedly and gesturing broadly with his hands. Rhodey looked mildly amused while Carol let out a guffaw that seemed to startle even Tony, and the tall blonde clapped him on the back, making him stutter forward and cough. Sam finally laughed at this, nodding at Steve as the captain approached them. Steve quietly crept up from behind, waiting for Rhodey and Carol's attention before letting Tony figure out that he was standing behind him.

"Captain Rogers," Fury called from the main entrance, and Steve turned and gave a quick salute before the Marshall nodded him into easement. Tony jumped at the address as well, turning to find Steve standing just behind him. He opened his mouth to tell Steve off, but Fury beat him to speaking.

"Stark," he added, and Tony made a mock salute before putting on his smirk and relaxing. Fury's expression didn't change, but there was a clear exasperation in the man. Sam, Rhodey, and Carol moved away as Fury nodded to them, releasing them from the conversation. They walked off with a wave towards Steve and Tony, who mostly ignored them in favor of watching the Marshall.

"The last of the repairs to the Los Angeles Shatterdome were performed last night," he announced. "I wanted to fully congratulate the two of you on your mission, which I think we can officially announce a success as of last night's final touches."

"It was an honor, sir," Steve said, not even resisting the broad grin he could feel stretching across his face. The repairs to the Shatterdome had been extensive and exhaustive, but Fury had announced them complete last night. It felt good to finally get the final closure on their extended mission, even months later.

"I also have other good news," Fury added, waiting for full attention from both men before continuing, "They've decided to continue the Jaeger program here in Los Angeles, just in case this solution is not as permanent as we originally hoped. They've also decided to permanently install the Academy here, with its own proper building. If SI can handle the construction, that is?"

"It would be my pleasure," Tony said, surprise evident on his face.

"But what of the other Shatterdomes?" Steve asked quickly, because there were still at least three in operation.

"Mostly retiring," Fury confessed, "But because there’s no need to have so many facilities any more. Most of the Shatterdomes had been reduced to minimal staff anyway, and those will be evaluated for jobs here in the growing LA Shatterdome before being sent into the civilian workforce with glowing recommendation letters. We've got those people taken care of, there's no need to worry."

Steve nodded, accepting the answer. There would always be the worry that the Jaeger programs would be dropped or would disappear, or that the pilots and scientists and engineers would be unable to move on from the war, but for now Steve trusted the Marshall to remain true to his word.

"I just wanted to make sure I had you two on board before I made the major announcement," Fury explained, and both Steve and Tony shared a glance before nodding at the man. Fury's face lit up into a surprisingly broad grin before he shook both of their hands and added a, "Then you're both dismissed for the day, pilots," before heading back in the direction from which he had come. Steve and Tony watched him go before turning back to each other.

"So," Tony drawled, leaning against the nearest rail and looking out over the student quad in front of them.

"So," Steve agreed, but the grin was still in place and he was feeling warmer than he had in a while.

"I might have said some things over the past few months," Tony said, gesturing broadly and shrugging his shoulders as though trying to appear casual, "That may have seemed kind of dramatic. I was kind of on a time limit, and I might have been a little delusional, but I want you to know that you don't have to take any of it seriously. I mean, you can totally just pretend none of it happened if you want, really it's just however you feel because like I said, I was kind of crazy then and I've definitely sobered up now - "

Steve shushed Tony with one finger against his lips, waiting until Tony was entirely finished talking before speaking for himself. "And what if I told you that I was glad to hear all of those things and that even though the battle is done, I still feel the same way I did before?"

Tony sputtered over Steve's finger, but Steve pointedly ignored him and removed his hand to take both of Tony's in his own.

"Tony," he said quietly, giving Tony's hands a gentle squeeze, "How do you actually feel about me?"

"I mean," Tony struggled, scrunching his eyebrows and pursing his lips in order to think better, "I think I feel the same way, but how do you know? I mean, it's a very common misconception to mistake lust for love and I just think you might be having a bad reaction to that other night." He pulled on Steve's hands with his own, practically buzzing with nervous energy and the barely resisted urge to simply flee the scene. Steve couldn't help but grin and shake his head at Tony's nervousness.

Steve hushed the man again by letting go of his hands and moving to cup the man's face in his palms. He pressed a gentle kiss to the tip of Tony's nose, to the small bit of visible forehead through Tony's bangs, and to the man's lips.

"I'm pretty certain I know what I'm getting into here," Steve answered, "Barring you going nuts on a suicide mission and pushing me away again. I'm going to get it through to you, Tony, that I'm here to stay." He reinforced this with another gentle kiss to Tony's lips that the brunet quickly matched, tugging on Steve's shirt to keep them together.

"I just want to make sure," Tony assured him, "You know, in case you wanted to take out a clause or something. You just have to say so, you know. You did just survive an apocalypse and I can pretty much guarantee you’ll be suffering through a Starkalypse or something a few years - or months, or days, whatever - down the road and I just want you to be sure."

Steve sighed, and took Tony up into a hug in order to speak into the man's freshly washed hair. "I guess we’re going to have to work on that when it happens," he sighed, "But I'll prove to you that I'm not leaving anytime soon unless you ask me to. Really, the Starkalypse you just described sounds like something that might be fun in comparison to the last few years, so I say bring it on. I'm going to survive it, and I'm going to survive you."

"Steve," Tony breathed, turning so he could look directly at Steve. He watched Steve's amused expression for a moment before letting himself sink into Steve's embrace, catching the blond's lips in a kiss as he was held by his co-pilot. He let out a chuckle as they pulled away, looking directly into Steve's eyes and smirking.

"I guess I can survive you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Please take a moment to drop a comment below, just let me know if there was anything you particularly liked or didn't like. Much appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [And We Are Giants (Artworks)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1051978) by [hayatecrawford](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hayatecrawford/pseuds/hayatecrawford)




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